GIFT   OF 


A 


^^  ^'WaX&r^. 


THE 

SEVEN    ESSENTIALS 

TO 

LIFE  AND  liEALThl 


e  PR(qCTlC(qL,    PRIMflRY   TRE^qTlSE 

ON 

HYGIENE 


"Self  preservation  is  the  first  law  of  nature." 
"To  be  hygienic,  even  in  spots,  may  add  years  to 

one's  life." 
He  who  improves  the  health  of  the   people  makes 

the  nation  strong. 


DY 

G.  D'ESTIN  BALLOU,  Opt.  D. 

For  thirty  years  student  of  and 
Lecturer  on  Hygiene. 


MODERN   HYGIENE  PUBLISHING  COMPANY 
Los  Anuelbs,  California. 


OBRMfflfr 

PUBLIC 

HEALTH 

LIBRARY 


Copyright.  1S09 
By  G.  D.  Ballou. 


TO  THE 

FAITHFUL  WORKERS 

IN  THE 

CAUSE  OF  HYGIENE  IN  EVERY  LAND  AND 

CLIME,  WHO   REJOICE   MORE   IN  THE 

PREVENTION   AND  RELIEF  OF 

HUMAN  SUFFERING  AND 

WOE,  THAN  IN  THE 

POSSESSION 

OF  GOLD. 

THIS  BOOK  IS 

JOYFULLY 

DEDICATED. 


.Qn^QQO 


Fig.  I— Front  View. 


Fig.  I.     Front  View  of  Organs  of  the  Human  Body. 

1.  1. — Lungs.  St. — Stomach. 

liv. — Liver.  g.  b. — Gall  bladder. 

h. — Heart.  Kid. — Kidneys. 

c. — Colon.  S.  I. — Small  intestines. 

Ap. — Appendix.  b. — Bladder. 

The  lungs  overlap  the  heart  and  come  nearly  together. 

The  liver  overlaps  and  lies  in  front  of  a  portion  of  the 
stomach.     The  lower  edge  is  lifted  to  show  gall  bladder. 

The  colon,  which  is  the  last  five  feet  of  the  bowel,  begins  at 
the  appendix  and  goes  up  and  across  the  body  in  front  of  tlie 
lower  portion  of  the  stomach  and  in  front  of  the  kidneys.  It 
is  drawn  down  in  this  cut  to  show  the  kidneys  and  lower  border 
of  stomach. 


Fig.  II— TJie  Diaphragm. 


This  cut  shows  the  diaphragm  in  its  relation  to  the  liver, 

spleen,  stomach  and  kidneys,  and  the  bowels 

below  and  the  lungs  and  heart  above. 


Fig.  II.     Explanation. 

The  diaphragm,  the  organ  of  breathing  and  the  leading  uuiseie 
of  the  body,  is  attached  to  the  inner  lower  border  of  the  ribs 
and  erowns  up  like  a  dome  over  the  liver,  stomach  and  spleen, 
with  the  heart  resting  down  lightly  on  top  of  the  dome  and  tiie 
lower  border  of  the  lungs  slipping  down  on  each  side  of  the 
dome  between   it   and  the  ribs. 

Tliis  appears  i)artly  in  the  right  lung,  but  the  left  lung  is 
cut  away  at  the  top  of  tlie  dome  so  as  not  to  obscure  the  loca- 
tion of  the  stomach,  which  is  dotted  in  uneler  the  diaphragm  on 
the  left  side  of  the  body,  being  drawn  away  from  the  ribs  to 
show  the  spleen  (sp.).  The  liver  is  dotted  in  on  the  right  side 
and  the  lower  border  lifted  to  show  location  of  gall  bladder. 
The  colon  is  drawn  down  to  show  the  kidneys. 

To  appreciate  diaphragm  action,  read  pp.  45-47  and  162-lG(i, 
studying  the  cut  as  you  read. 

If  the  lower  front  border  of  the  lungs  were  allowed  to  appear 
in  their  true  jiosition  they  would  spread  inward  and  downward, 
covering  all  but  the  central  and  lower  portion  of  this  dome  of 
the   diaphragm. 


Fig.  Ill— Rear  View. 


Shows  location    of  kidneys   up   under   short   ribs. 


Fig.  IV-  Water  Filter. 


Fig.  V-  Water  Still. 


H. — A  sponge   pressed  into  a  Iron  kettle  for  a  base, 

liole  in  the  bottom  of  a  pan.  Upper  part  copper. 

g. — Gravel, 
c. — Charcoal. 

8ee  pages  49  and  50  to  learn  how  to  make  one  of  these  useful 
articles. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 

Pages. 

I\)R  i:\VOKI) S-  1- 

(II  AFTER         I— "THK     FIRST     MAN     IS     OF    THE 

EARTH   EARTHY"   .         .         .       13-   lo 

CHAPTER  II— THE  SEVEN  ESSENTIALS  .  .  1(5-  :'.7 
CHAPTER  III— T-HE  LAWS  OF  LIFE  .  .  .38-  (ill 
CHAPTER      IV— DRUGS.  STIMULANTS,   NARCOTICS 

AND  PATENT  MEDICINES     .       61-  7G 

CHAPTER        V— GIFTS   OF   HEALINGS   AND   MIRA- 
CLES     77-84 

CHAPTER  VI— DISEASE  AND  ITS  CAUSES  .  .  85-  90 
CHAPTER    VII— MENTAL    CAUSES    AND    MENTAL 

REMEDIES  ....       91-150 

CHAPTER  VIII— PHYSICAL     REMEDIES     FOR     DIS- 
EASE   151-19:2 

CHAPTER       LK— TREATMENT  OF  DISEASES  .         .     193-2(59 

CHAPTER        X— POINTERS 270-340 

CHAPTER      XI— WHAT     SHALL     WE     CALL     THIS 

SYSTEMS 341-349 

CHAPTER     XII— HABITS 350-369 

CHAPTER  XIIT— LIFE  AND  LABOR    .         .         .         .  370-378 

CHAPTKR   XIV— TRANSFORMATIONS        .         .         .  379-387 

CHAPTER     XV— REFORMS  AND  EXTREMES  .         .  388-397 

THK  AFTERWORD 398-400 

APPENDIX 401-411 


ERRATA. 

Page  214,  9th  line  read  '*bare"  instead  of  "fare." 

Page  238,  22nd  line  leave  out  '  'effort. ' ' 

Page  297,  in  the  paragraph  on  "The  Depurating 
System"  read  "food"  for  "fluid:" 

Page  329,  omit  last  two  lines  at  close  of  1st  paragraph 
and  after  "greater  things"  read  "accomplished 
than  have  yet  been  done." 


"Beloved  I  wish  above  all  things  that  thou  mayest 
prosper  and  he  in  health  even  as  thy  soul  prospereth. ' ' 
— John. 

"For  bodily  exercise  prohieth  for  a  little  time;  but 
Godliness  is  profitable  unto  all  things,  having  promise 
of  the  life  that  now  is  and  of  that  which  is  to  come." 
—Paul. 


FOREWORD. 

There  is  still  too  wide  a  chasni  between  the  people 
and  the  medical  profession.  The  only  way  to  narrow 
this  chasm  is  to  narrow  that  other  gulf  that  lies  be- 
tween both  classes  and  a  true  knowledge  of  Hygiene. 
The  Ancient  Greeks  had  a  goddess  Hygieia,  who  was 
fabled  to  preside  over  the  health  of  the  people.  Hence 
the  moderns  have  named  that  science  which  treats 
of  the  preservation  of  health,  Hygiene. 

Very  few  today  even  among  educated  professional 
people  have  a  well  classified  knowledge  of  Hygiene. 
The  great  majority  are  still  feeling  their  way  toward 
the  light. 

It  is  the  privilege  of  every  human  being  to  kncnv 
all  that  is  possible  for  him  to  comprehend,  of  his  own 
being  and  body  and  his  relations  to  this  life  and  world. 
It  is  necessary  to  know  something  about  ourselves,  to 
prevent  that  useless  worry  and  wear  and  waste,  that 
so  soon  destroys  all  the  harmony  of  existence,  ren- 
ders us  of  little  account,  and  ends  in  the  cutting  short 
of  a  miserable  existence.  To  be  hygienic  even  in  spots 
may  add  years  to  one's  life  and  these  years  may  be 
years  of  joyful  usefulness. 

This  is  an  age  of  progress.  Knowledge  in  every 
science  and  art,  and  concerning  every  question  of 
importance  to  mankind  is  increasing.  The  questions 
of  hygiene  are  receiving  a  large  share  of  attention. 
But  there  is  much  confusion  of  thought  in  the  theory, 
and  much  conflict  in  the  practice  of  health  principles. 

2 


10  ESSENTIALS    TO    LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

On  almost  ever}^  point  some  are  lined  up  on  one  ex- 
treme and  some  at  the  other.  It  is  the  mission  of 
science  to  put  in  order,  to  simplify,  all  knowledge  so 
that  the  common  mind  can  easily  grasp  and  apply 
sound  principles  to  its  own  happiness  and  welfare 
and  to  the  welfare  of  all  who  come  within  the  sphere 
of  its  influence. 

A  kind,  generous  sentiment  demands  that  scientific 
knowledge  be  put  into  the  language  of  the  common 
people  so  that  those  Avho  would  become  proficient  in 
aiding  the  distressed  and  afflicted,  can  readily  under- 
stand and  apply  the  Laws  of  Life  and  Health  to  those 
cases  that  through  ignorance  and  neglect  have  fallen 
victims  to  disease  and  suffering.  The  past  ages  have 
not  witnessed  on  the  part  of  the  so-called  scientists 
any  very  marked  desire  or  effort  to  prevent  suffering 
by  making  the  people  self  helpful.  The  effort  has 
rather  been  in  the  other  direction.  The  arts  and 
sciences  have  been  hidden  too  much  under  the  verbiage 
of  dead  languages,  thus  denying  to  the  people  the 
clear  understanding  of  some  things  that  would  have 
opened  the  way  for  a  full  unfettered  progress.  This 
effort  at  occultism  has  greatly  crippled  even  the  men 
of  science.  But  at  the  present  time  a  strong  tide  is 
setting  toward  true  methods  of  education. 

In  the  following  pages  the  writer  has  purposed  to 
set  forth  the  most  advanced  effort  yet  made  in  the 
way  of  classifying  the  facts  of  hygiene.  Forty-five 
\ears'  experience  in  the  health  work  has  revealed  the 
necessity  for  some  systematic  standard  around  which 
all  sensible  minds  could  rally,  and  with  that  standard 
go  forth  to  greater  conquests.  No  claim  is  laid  to 
the   discovery   of  any  new,   revolutionizing   facts.      A 


FOREAVORD  11 

thorough  simple  classification  of  all  health  agencies 
and  a  proper  emphasis  laid  on  some  of  the  neglected 
things,  is  the  goal  to  which  the  writer  has  aspired. 
He  would  call  especial  attention  to  the  points  made 
under  "The  Law  of  Rest"  and  "Mental  Causes  and 
Mental  Remedies."  So  far  as  the  author  knows,  these 
important  truths  have  not  hitherto  been  popularly  set 
forth  and  emphasized  in  any  adequate  manner.  He 
does  not  suppose  that  he  has  touched  every  point,  or 
perhaps  all  the  main  points,  in  all  their  bearings.  The 
aim  has  been  to  bring  out  enough  to  set  other  active 
minds  at  work  along  these,  hitherto,  somewhat  mixed 
lines.  The  author  would  not  overlook  the  work  of 
hundreds  of  scientific  men  who  are  by  far  his  su- 
periors in  technical  knowledge.  It  is  to  them  and  the 
Bible  and  the  spiritual  instruction  of  his  religious 
teachers,  that  he  owes  the  foundation  of  what  little  he 
has  attained.  But  he  begs  permission  to  emphasize 
the  importance  of  a  correct  standard  of  classification 
in  order  to  permit  of  still  further  untrammeled  prog- 
ress in  the  application  of  the  Science  of  Health. 

The  subjects  herein  set  forth  are  world  wide  in 
their  importance  and  as  inexhaustible  as  life  itself. 
When  the  right  basis  is  reached  in  any  science,  human 
minds  and  energies  are  liberated  and  the  field  suddenly 
enlarged,  and  those  minds  not  bound  by  false  systems 
will  be  the  first  to  feel  the  impulses  of  a  ne\N  mo\  t- 
ment.  A  story  is  told  of  Edison,  the  great  electrical 
inventor,  which  illustrates  the  value  of  original  un- 
biased research.  Some  one  wrote  and  asked  him  if 
he  did  not  feel  the  lack  of  a  thorough  mathematical 
training.  His  reply  was:  "Why,  no!  If  I  had  taken 
what   is  called   a   thorough     mathematical     training     1 


12  ESSENTIALS    TO    LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

would  have  found  out  that  the  things  I  have  accom- 
plished could  not  be  done."  Some  of  the  old  standards 
of  thought  and  practice,  especially  the  doctrine  that 
poison  drugs  cure,  must  fall  into  disuse  with  the  ad- 
\ance  of  more  rational  methods. 

The  system  we  have  set  forth  is  not  new  and  un- 
tried. It  is  in  use  today  in  the  hands  of  thousands  of 
physicians  and  nurses  all  over  the  world.  It  is  simple 
and  practical.     It  is  not  partial,  but  complete. 

This  little  volume  cannot  set  forth  all  the  minutiae 
and  detail  of  all  hygienic  procedures.  But  the  prin- 
ciples are  here  and  a  large  number  of  practical  illus- 
trations showing  their  ai^plication  to  many  diseased 
conditons.  It  is  hoped  that  the  principles  are  so 
clearly  stated  and  applied  that  they  will  form  a  basis 
for  the  restoration  to  health  of  thousands  of  persons 
who  are  just  eking  out  a  miserable  existence,  because 
of  being,  perhaps,  only  slightly  out  of  harmony  with 
those  laws  which  should  govern  the  human  body.  The 
proof  of  every  i)oint  lies  in  the  doing.  Practice  these 
suggestions  faithfully  and  patiently  for  a  few  months 
and  you  will  learn  to  know  that  they  arc  correct. 

THE  AUTHOR. 

Los  Angeles,  Cal.,  Sept.  1,  1909. 


t4 


CHAPTER  I. 

The  First  Man  is  of  the  Earth  Earthy.  * ' 


Look  forth  for  a  few  moments  on  the  face  of  nature 
and  witness  the  stupendous  workings  of  creati\  e 
power.  Consider  how  the  elements  about  us — sun- 
shine, air,  water  and  earth^unite  and  produce  every 
form  of  vegetable  life ;  and  then  how  every  form  of 
animate  existence  subsists  on  vegetation  just  because 
these  primordial  elements  are  acting  in  harmony  with 
the  word  of  an  omnipotent  Creator  and  producing  sus- 
tenance for  all  forms  of  higher  life.  Whence  come  the 
substances  found  in  the  vegetable  world — the  cellu- 
lose, starch,  sugar,  fats,  gluten,  etc.?  Are  they  in  the 
soil?  or  atmosphere?  or  water?  or  sunlight?  Where 
are  they?  They  are  not  the  result  of  any  ordinary 
chemical  action  between  these  elementary  things.  The 
mystery  of  creative  power  working  through  the  com- 
bined action  of  these  four  elements  has  not  yet  been 
fathomed.  It  is  as  easy  to  understand  how  food  ele- 
ments may  be  changed  into  thought  and  action  and 
feeling  and  purpose,  as  how  inanimate  nature  can  com- 
bine and  ])r(i(liicc  the  food  elements.  Consider  with 
all  }-our  finite  attributes  the  infinite  power  that  can 
produce  animate  out  of  inanimate  things;  thai  can 
create  life  in  all  its  forms  "so  that  the  things  that  arc 
seen  were  not  made  of  things  that  do  appear.'"  Sun- 
light,  air,    writer   and    earth    <"irdaino(l    1)\'    tlu'    iurmite 


14  ESSENTIALS    TO    LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

power  of  our  Heavenly  Father,  plus  another  mani- 
festation of  His  power  and  love,  and  the  results  are 
man  and  all  his  surroundings. 

"God  said.  Let  light  be,  and  light  was."  "And  God 
said,  Let  the  earth  bring  forth  grass,  and  herb  yielding 
seed,  and  the  fruit  tree  yielding  fruit  after  its  kind." 
"And  the  earth  brought  forth,  and  God  saw  it  was 
good."  ''And  God  said.  Let  the  waters  bring  forth 
abundantly  the  moving  creature  that  hath  life."  "And 
God  said,  Let  the  earth  bring  the  living  creature  after 
its  kind,  cattle  and  creeping  thing  and  beast  of  the 
earth  after  his  kind,  and  it  was  so."  "God  said,  Let 
us  make  man  in  our  image  and  after  our  likeness,  and 
let  them  have  dominion — so  God  created  man  in  his 
own  image  and  after  his  likeness."     (Genesis.) 

This  was  creation;  and  this  Creator  ordained  the 
laws  of  dependence  by  which  all  animate  existence  is 
sustained  by  the  workings  of  his  own  power.  Thus 
the  laws  of  nature  are  as  truly  divine  as  is  the  work- 
manship of  his  own  hands,  or  even  as  the  law  be- 
spoke from  Sinai.  Later  we  shall  be  able  to  define  the 
laws  of  nature  which  govern  our  relations  to  Life  and 
Health. 

By  these  laws  man  eats  the  immediate  products  of 
of  the  inanimate  world,  fruits,  grains,  vegetables ; 
drinks  the  inanimate  water,  breathes  the  inanimate  air, 
warms  himself  with  the  sunlight,  moves,  and  feels, 
and  thinks,  and  worships.  So  that  the  primordial  ele- 
ments, by  this  mighty  God  with  whom  we  all  must 
deal,  whether  we  will  or  not,  are  changed  into  emotion, 
feeling,  thought  and  praise ;  and  the  very  inanimate 
elements    thru    man    a4-e  made    to    speak  the  infinite 


OF  THE  EARTH  EARTHY  15 

praises  of  God.  Thus,  "All  thy  works  shall  praise  thee, 
O  Lord,  and  thy  saints  shall  bless  thee.'' 

It  is  but  a  short  time  since,  when  none  of  earth's 
present  inhabitants  existed  only  as  ideas  in  the  mind 
of  God ;  only  as  mere'  items  in  God's  unfolding  plan. 
But  God  has  wrought  through  his  laws,  even  tho 
they  have  been  perverted,  and  mankind  is  here  a  pro- 
duct of- this  earthly  environment. 

There  comes  into  this  world  according  to  the  law 
of  its  kind  a  little  helpless  human  creature  of  only  a 
few  pounds  weight.  A  few  years  of  patient  feeding 
on  the  surrounding  elements  brings  forth  a  being  of 
ponderous  weight,  full  of  physical  and  mental  power, 
moved  by  lofty  purposes,  swayed  by  mighty  impulses ; 
capable  of  self-direction,  with  the  possibility  of  per- 
petuating existence  for  an  indefinite  period;  and  able 
to  invent  new  combinations  by  dealing  wisely  with 
the  surrounding  substances  and  forces  in  nature.  This 
is  man.  Whence  came  his  substance  and  impulses? 
"The  first  man  is  of  the  earth  earthy."  God  can  and 
does  organize  matter  to  live  and  act  ancl  feel  and  think 
and  ofTer  praise.  And  if  this  life  is  properly  used, 
according  to  the  demands  of  divine  law,  there  will  one 
day  open  to  the  faithful  ones  the  limitless  vistas  of 
the  life  to  come,  which  will  be  only  an  amplification, 
a  new  and  glorified  edition  of  this  life  of  discipline  and 
sacrifice. 


CHAPTER  IL 
The  Seven  Essentials. 

We  come  now  to  consider  those  things  in  nature 
upon  which  we  immediately  depend  for  life  and  health. 
Civilized  people,  in  any  part  of  the  world,  if  asked  to 
name  the  absolute  essentials  to  healthy  existence, 
would  enumerate  those  which  are  given  below,  and 
if  pressed  for  other  necessary  conditions,  would  find 
none  to  name.  They  are  Sunlight,  Air,  Water,  Food, 
Clothing,  Exercise,  and  Rest.  The  great  Creator  saw 
fit  to  so  constitute  man  and  his  relationships  that 
these  seven  things  would  include  everything  neces- 
sary to  the  maintenance  of  life ;  and  all  that  is  neces- 
sary to  the  regaining  of  one's  health,  except  miracles. 
Artificialism,  man's  disposition  to  invent,  has  quite 
full\-  hidden  from  our  eyes  the  great  truth  that  they 
constitute  the  complete  environment  of  life  and  health. 

As  we  now  progress,  the  reader  will  see  that  there 
is  not  a  hygienic  procedure  nor  a  true  remedial  agent 
that  is  not  properly  classified  under  one  of  these  seven 
heads.  He  will  even  come  to  see  that  the  science  of 
surgery  is  but  a  sub-head  of  the  great   Law  of  Rest. 

We  will  now  proceed  to  consider  each  of  these  es- 
sentials and  try  to  grasp  something  of  the  character 
of  each  as  a  ]>art  of  the  great  system  which  we  call 
nature.  In  ilie  next  chapter  we  will  study  the  Law 
<)f  onr' relationship  to  each  of  these  essentials. 


THE  SEVEN  ESSENTIALS  17 

Sunlight. 

Sunlight  is  the  strongest  stimulant,  the  mightiest 
vitalize!"  in  all  nature.  It  is  the  agent  of  that  power 
that  moves  the  world  and  all  things  therein.  All  the 
phenomena  of  nature  are  regulated  by  it,  both  in  rela- 
tion to  other  worlds  as  well  as  the  local  relationship 
of  things  here.  The  winds,  tides,  ocean  currents,  suc- 
cession of  day  and  night,  evaporation  and  distribution 
of  moisture,  and  all  the  variations  of  climate,  are  pro- 
duced and  controlled  by  the  sun.  The  variations  of 
plant  and  animal  life,  and  the  race  variations  of  the 
human  family  are  due  to  this  mighty  ruler  of  the  day. 
No  wonder  the  benighted  minds  of  other  ages  wor- 
shipped the  sun  after  they  had  refused  to  listen  to  the 
voice  of  the  Creator. 

Modern  experiment  has  demonstrated  that  sunlight 
is  the  great  purifier,  the -destroyer  of  germs  in  air, 
water  and  earth.  What  are  germs?  Generally  speak- 
ing, they  are  low  ])erverterl  forms  of  vegetable  life, 
with  few  exceptions,  that  exist  where  there  is  moist- 
ure, warmth  and  darkness,  and  flourish  on  decay,  and 
in  turn  furnish  the  seed  for  the  death  and  decay  of 
vegetable  as  well  as  animal  substances.  But  only  a 
few  of  them  are  poisonous,  or  generate  poisons  in  their 
growth  that  are. dangerous  to  human  life. 

See  how  common  mold  perishes  in  the  direct  rays 
of  the  sun.  It  has  been  demonstrated  that  these  direct 
rays  will  in  a  few  hours  destroy  the  well-known  germs 
of  typhoid  fever,  cholera  and  tuberculosis  (consump- 
tion). Just  how  sunlight  destroys,  we  cannot  tell. 
any  more  than  we  can  ex]ilain  how  it  encourages 
higher  plant  life  and  animal  life. 

Out  in  nature  the  general  pm-ification  and  \itali7.a- 


18  ESSENTIALS    TO    LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

tion  is  being  carried  on  by  the  common,  every-day 
processes  which  are  in  constant  operation  all  about  us. 
Sunlight  evaporates  water  from  earth  and  ocean.  The 
air  bears  it  aloft.  The  winds,  set  in  motion  by  the 
heat  of  the  sun,  carry  the  vapor  to  the  earth's  remotest 
bounds.  Opposing  winds  of  varying  temperatures 
meet  and  the  vapor  condenses  and  falls  to  earth,  viv- 
ifying every  form  of  plant  and  animal  existence,  and 
then  runs  away  to  the  sea,  or  immediately  evaporates 
to  be  retirrned  again  in  blessing  as  before.  And  with 
it  all,  the  mighty  radiant  energy  of  the  sun  extends 
its  vitalizing  activity  to  all  nature,  destroying  disease 
elements  and  energizing  all  other  forms  of  life. 

Imagine,  if  you  can,  the  power  necessary  to  lift  all 
the  waters  of  all  the  rivers  on  earth  a  mile  or  more 
above  sea  level ;  and  set  all  the  winds  on  earth  blowing. 
We  dam  up  the  streams  at  a  few  places,  and  we  set 
up  windmills,  and  we  measure  the  results  in  what  we 
call  horse-powers.  But  how  infinitesimal  is  the  portion 
we  utilize  compared  with  the  total  energy  manifested 
by  the  sun.  None  but  the  Creator  knows  the  extent 
of  creative  power  in  requires  to  run  even  this  little  one 
of  His  worlds. 

All  forms  of  heat  and  light  and  fire  and  electricity 
and  motion  are  but  varying  forms  of  sun  energy. 

Take  your  strong  magnifying  or  burning  glass  and 
you  can  soon  convert  its  direct  rays  into  fire.  Is  there 
any  difTerence  between  this  fire  and  that  kindled  by  a 
match?  Harness  the  dynamo  to  the  water-wheel  and 
you  soon  have  this  motion  which  is  a  direct  product 
of  sun  power  changed  into  electric  energy,  heat  and 
light. 

It  is  the  opinion  of  the  writer  that  all  forms  of  chem- 


THE  SEVEN  ESSENTIALS  19 

ical  action  and  chemical  heat  and  electric  production 
are  due  to  the  influence  of  sun  energy.  The  sun  itself 
in  its  color  productions  in  the  plant  world  alone  is 
exercising  an  almost  infinite  degree  of  vital  chemical 
power.  How  much  the  laws  of  cohesion  and  gravita- 
tion which  are  controlled  by  sun  energy  have  to  do 
with  holding  the  different  chemical  substances  in  con- 
tact, and  how  much  it  has  to  do  with  producing  some 
of  these  substances,  we  leave  to  the  judgment  of  the 
reader.  It  is  our  opinion  that  if  sun  power  were  with- 
drawn and  chaos  reigned,  chemical  action  would  cease 
on  this  planet. 

Whence  comes  the  wood  and  the  coal  and  the  oil 
which  we  use  to  supplement  the  sunlight  in  winter? 
The  following  experiment  will  show  you.  Take  a  pot 
of  fifty  pounds  of  dry  earth.  Plant  in  it  a  peach  pit. 
Now  apply  water  and  give  sunlight  and  air  free  access 
to  your  combination.  When  the  peach  tree  has  grown 
to  a  respectable  size,  take  it  out  of  the  earth,  saving 
every  atom  of  the  soil.  The  scales  may  show  that  you 
have  fifty  pounds  of  peach-tree.  Dry  the  earth  again 
and  you  still  have  fifty  pounds  of  soil.  Distil  this 
peach  wood,  separating  the  essential  oils,  creosote, 
wood  alcohol  and  charcoal.  Whence  came  these  sub- 
stances of  the  tree  life?  There  is  but  one  answer; 
they  are  a  vital  combination  of  sun  energy,  air  and 
water  and  a  little  ash  from  the  earth.  So  of  the  coal 
and  oil  we  find  buried  in  the  earth.  They  are  the  re- 
mains of  the  forests  which  other  generations  of  men 
beheld  and  admired.  It  is  true,  the  soil  lost  a  small 
amount  of  its  elements,  but  the  tree  returned  as  much 
in  weight  as  it  took.  So  it  does  not  take  a  great  stretch 
of  mind  to  see  that  all  vegetable  and  animal  substances 


20  ESSENTIALS    TO    LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

and  all  heat  and  light  and  all  life-producing  elements 
come  to  us  thru  a  combination  of  sun  energy  with 
water  and  air  operating  upon  the  soil.  And  the  bulk  of 
the  solid  substances  in  the  plant  world  come  from  sun- 
light, air  and  water.  The  agriculturist  adds  much  to 
the  productiveness  of  the  soil  by  turning  under  the 
growing  crop  which  had  taken  most  of  its  life  and 
energy  from  the  sunlight  and  air.  If  he  should  con- 
tinue this  process  of  returning  all  again  to  the  soil,  he 
would  in  a  few  years  have  such  a  condition  of  the  soil 
as  would  make  it  impossible  for  him  to  produce  any 
crop  because  of  too  much  fertility.  Whence  came  this 
fertility?  Chiefly,  we  say  again,  from  sun  energy  and 
air  and  water.  But  the  mighty  miracle  of  the  creati\  e 
processes  being  enacted  before  our  eyes  constantly,  we 
can  neither  fathom  nor  understand. 

Again,  this  same  subtle  combination  of  sunlight,  air 
and  water  paints  all  the  glorious  panorama  of  nature 
in  all  their  vivid  and  somber  hues,  from  the  rainbow 
to  the  brilliant  variegated  flowers. 

Rut  there  is  a  sad  side  to  this  whole  question.  When 
creation  came  fresh  from  the  hand  of  God,  there  was 
naught  but  life  in  all  these  vSeven  Essentials.  The  at- 
mosphere was  tlic  breath  of  life;  the  water  of  Eden 
was  the  water  of  life;  and  the  food  was  the  bread  of 
life.  Their  clothing  was  the  halo  of  light  and  glory. 
Exercise,  both  physical  and  mental,  was  the  highest 
manifestation  of  human  life,  and  the  rest  of  Eden  was 
that  spiritual  rest  which  comes  from  fellowship  and 
coninnmion  with  tlie  Eather  himself,  who  is  the  source 
of  life.  There  could  be  neither  death  nor  pain  in  such 
an  environment.  But  when  God  let  fall  the  curse  for 
man's  sin.  he  put  death   iti   close  relation   to  each  of 


THE  SEVEN  ESSENTIALS  21 

tliose  things.  So  now  there  is  death  in  the  sun-stroke, 
there  is  death  in  the  water,  and  air,  and  food,  and  in 
close  connection  with  the  other  essentials.  Hence  it 
became  necessary  to  know  the  hygiene  of  life  in  order 
to  preserve  existence  for  even  a  reasonable  length  of 
time.  This  shows  why  the  theory  of  some  faddists  must 
Ije  false,  who  occasionally  proclaim  that  all  that  is 
necessary  to  live  a  thousand  years  is  to  eat  and  drink 
and  dress  and  exercise  properly.  They  forget  or  dis- 
believe that  man  and  all  nature  are  under  the  curse, 
and  so  they  talk  at  random. 

A  ir. 

In  the  oldest  book  in  the  world,  air,  uncontaminated 
by  the  curse,  is  called  the  "breath  of  life."  "And  the 
Lord  God  breathed  into  his  nostrils  the  breath  of  life, 
and  man  became  a  living  soul."  And  of  the  animal  cre- 
ation at  the  time  of  the  flood  it  says:  "And  all  flesh 
died  that  moved  upon  the  earth,  both  of  fowl  and  cattle 
and  beast  and  of  every  creeping  thing  that  creepeth 
upon  the  earth,  and  every  man,  all  in  whose  nostrils 
was  the  breath  of  life  of  all  that  was  in  the  drv  land 
died." 

Of  all  things  in  nature,  air  is  the  most  immediately 
necessary  to  life.  One  could  live  for  days  in  darkness 
without  food  or  water,  but  only  for  a  brief  moment 
without  air.  Air  is  absorbed  in  the  lungs  in  a  manner 
somewhat  similar  to  the  absorption  of  digested  food 
in  the  alimentary  canal.  1'he  breath  we  are  taking  in 
at  this  instant  remains  in  our  lungs  till  three  or  four 
more  full  breaths  are  taken.  This  all  depends  on  the 
depth  of  the  inspirations  and  expirations.  This  keeps 
the  breath  in  the  lungs  until  the  oxygen  has  a  chance 


22  ESSENTIALS    TO    LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

to  pass  thru  the  thin  membranes  of  the  lungs  into 
the  blood,  and  some  of  the  poisons  have  a  chance  to 
escape  from  the  blood  and  are  carried  out  in  the  ex- 
hausted air.  This  process  changes  the  blood  from 
a  dark  red  to  a  light  crimson  color.  The  oxygen  seems 
to  be  the  all-essential  thing  in  this  vital  process.  Just 
"the  how"  of  this  change  none  but  the  Creator  could 
explain. 

Sometimes  when  the  lungs  are  nearly  filled  up  with 
the  products  of  inflammation,  as  in  pneumonia,  pure 
oxygen  is  given  for  hours  until  the  lungs  begin  to  clear 
themselves,  and  thus  the  life  is  sustained,  as  it  could 
not  have  been  done  by  air  alone,  only  one-fifth  of  which 
is  oxygen. 

The  atmosphere  is  densest  at  the  level  of  the  sea, 
being  much  more  rare  at  the  tops  of  the  highest  moun- 
tains. This  accounts  for  the  rapidity  and  other  diffi- 
culties of  breathing,  nose-bleed,  deafness,  etc.,  experi- 
enced at  great  altitudes. 

The  air  is  capable  of  holding  much  moisture  in  the 
form  of  vapor.  The  more  humidity  the  greater  the  suf- 
fering from  heat,  and  the  greater  the  sense  of  chilliness 
if  it  is  cold.  The  temperature  of  greatest  comfort  in 
a  moist  atmosphere  is  65  to  70  degrees  F.  In  a  strictly 
dry  atmosphere  a  temperature  as  high  as  a  hundred  is 
not  Qppressive,  nor  is  zero  weather  with  moderate  exer- 
cise seriously  uncomfortable. 

Often  the  air  becomes  laden  with  dust  or  smoke  or 
disease  germs.  This  condition  is  most  likely  to  prevail 
in  cities,  near  swamps,  and  along  the  great  lines  of 
travel. 

All  these  things  have  their  influence  on  the  health 
of  mankind.     All  such  diseases  as  chickenpox,  scarlet 


THE  SEVEN  ESSENTIALS  23 

fever,  measles,  mumps,  smallpox,  pneumonia  and  lung 
consumption  are  disseminated  thru  germs  contained 
in  the  air.  So  that  that  which  in  its  purity  was  the 
"breath  of  life,"  may  become  the  atmosphere  of  death. 

Water. 

Water  exists  in  nature  in  three  forms,  solid,  liquid 
and  gaseous.  The  most  common  form  in  which  we  see 
it  is  the  liquid.  As  vapor  it  varies  from  the  invisible 
to  the  steam  and  cloud  forms.  The  solid  form,  ice,  is 
more  appreciated  in  warm  climates  and  seasons  than 
where,  and  when,  it  forms  naturally.  The  change  from 
liquid  to  solid  takes  place  at  a  temperature  of  32  de- 
grees F.  Water  reaches  its  greatest  density  at  39  de- 
grees F. — that  is,  a  cubic  inch  weighs  more  at  this  tem- 
perature than  at  a  higher  or  lower  degree.  Belov*' 
and  above  this  temperature  the  volume  increases  so 
that  the  same  amount  by  measure  weighs  less  than  at 
39  degrees.  Above  this  temperature  it  continues  to 
expand  and  exaporate  until  it  disappears  as  liquid  and 
floats  away  invisibly  on  the  buoyant  atmosphere.  When 
it  reaches  the  higher  cooler  regions  of  the  air  it  is 
partly  condensed  and  appears  in  all  the  variety  of  the 
beautiful  cloud  forms  which  we  all  so  much  admire. 
The  warmer  the  atmosphere  the  greater  amount  of 
invisible  vapor  it  will  sustain.  In  the  high  regions 
of  air  a  cold  current  meeting  a  warm  moisture  laden 
current  rapidly  condenses  the  vapor  and  a  fall  of  rain 
is  the  result.  If  there  is  a  violent  conflict  among  the 
winds  electricity  is  generated  by  the  friction  and  we 
have  a  thunderstorm.  If  the  cold  air  current  is  ex- 
tremely cool  snow  or  hail  will  be  formed  and  if  the 
lower  air  is  cool  it  may  reach  the  earth  in  the  form 


24  ESSENTIALS    TO    LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

of  a  snowstorm.  Hail  is  frequently  formed  of  such 
size  and  weight  that  it  reaches  the  earth  with  a  very 
damaiiinj^  effect.  The  coolness  of  the  evening  air  set- 
tling down  over  the  surface  of  the  earth  causes  a 
condensation  of  moisture  in  the  form  of  dew.  A  very 
remarkable  phenomenon  is  seen  in  the  fact  that  rapid 
evaporation  will  produce  intense  cold,  and  the  more 
ra])id  tlie  evaporation  the  more  intense  the  cold.  This 
is  observed  in  a  more  marked  manner  in  the  case  of 
other  fluids  as  ether,  ethyl  chloride,  chloroform,  alco- 
hol, ammonia,  gasoline,  and  other  volatile  liquids.  The 
existence  of  mankind  and  animals  on  the  earth  dej)ends 
on  this  law  of  evaporation  and  condensation. 

At  the  sea  level  water  boils,  changes  into  vapor  most 
rapidly,  at  a  temperature  of  212  degrees.  At  the  higher 
elevations  this  change  is  reached  at  a  very  much  lower 
temperature.  Tt  becomes  exceedingly  difificult  to  boil 
vegetables  at  an  altitude  of  ten  thousand  feet  just  be- 
cause the  water  boils  at  a  temperature  too  low  to  soften 
the  vegetable  cells.  When  water  boils  it  can  be  heated 
no  hotter  because  evaporation  carries  away  the  heat 
as  fast  as  it  is  formed  above  that  temeprature  and 
so  an  equilibrium  is  maintained.  Hence  enough  fire 
to  maintain  the  boiling  is  just  as  eiBcient  in  cooking 
as  a  greater  amount. 

Going  back  to  the  temperature  of  39  degrees  F. ; 
below  this  the  water  begins  to  expand  and  at  32  de- 
grees congeals  and  floats  above  the  liquid.  If  the 
density  increased  from  39  degrees  down  to  freezing 
then  ice  would  be  heavier  than  water  and  would  sink 
to  the  bottom  and  never  thaw  out  with  the  summer 
heat  known  in  the  temperate  zone. 

Water  holds   the  heat   imparted  to  it  by  the  sun's 


THE  SEVEN  ESSENTIALS  25 

rays  much  longer  than  solid  substances.  This  ac- 
counts for  the  evenness  of  ocean  climates  which  are 
tempered  by  the  circulation  of  ocean  currents.  These 
ocean  curr-ents  may  be  observed  in  miniature  in  a  ket- 
tle of  water  that  is  heating  or  in  one  that  is  cooling 
which  contains  a  few  visible  floating  particles  held  in 
suspension  in  the  fluid.  The  persistency  with  which 
the  water  retains  heat  may  be  illustrated  by  setting  a 
deep  metal  vessel  of  boiling  water  on  a  block  of  ice 
to  cool.  After  some  time  when  the  water  next  the  ice 
has  become  quite  cold,  the  surface  will  be  found  too 
hot  for  the  hands. 

How  the  air  can  bear  aloft  and  sustain  the  hundreds 
of  tons  of  water  in  the  form  of  vapor  and  how  the 
water  can  be  changed  into  these  varying  forms  and 
how  the  sun  energy  manages  all  these  and  other  phys- 
ical relationships  we  have  not  mentioned  are  but  a 
few  of  the  mysteries  of  creative  power. 

The  water  of  Eden  before  the  curse  fell  on  the  earth 
was  the  water  of  life.  Now  it  is  not  always  such,  for  it 
often  contains  the  germs  of  death,  as  well  as  mineral 
substances  not  conducive  to  health. 

"When  mankind  and  the  world  are  once  more  restored 
to  the  Eden  state  man  will  again  drink  of  the  river  of 
the  water  of  life  which  proceeds  from  the  throne  of 
God. 

Pure  water  is  the  greatest  resolvent  known  to  man. 
Tt  has  much  to  do  with  the  digestion  of  food  and  with 
the  maintenance  of  life  in  the  human  body,  four  fifths 
of  which  is  water.  This  fluid  is  composed  of  two 
invisible  gases,  one  of  which,  hydrogen,  burns  with 
a  fierce  heat;  the  other,  oxygen,  constituting  one-third, 
is   the   greatest   known   supporter   of   combustion ;   so 

3 


26  ESSENTIALS    TO    LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

much  so  that  a  fine  steel  wire  tipped  with  burning 
sulpliur  will  consume  in  it  with  startling  brilliancy, 
while  the  oxygen  itself  does  not  burn  as  we  commonly 
understand  the  term.  Pure  w^ater  is  called  in  chem-' 
istry  H-O,  w^hich  means  by  volume  hydrogen  two  parts 
and  oxygen  one  part.  By  weight  hydrogen  is  one 
ninth  and  oxygen  eight  ninths. 

Absolutely  pure  water  is  difficult  to  find  in  nature. 
Rain  water  falling  over  the  ocean  and  on  high  moun- 
tains away  from  the  cities,  and  at  a  time  when  there 
are  no  forest  fires,  is  almost  perfectly  pure.  During 
the  last  part  of  a  long  rain  storm,  the  water  having 
washed  the  air  out,  is  generally  quite  pure.  Distilled 
water  is  practically  pure,  and  the  process  of  distilla- 
tion is  very  simple.  Steam  from  water  is  condensed 
and  you  have  pure  distilled  water.  When  the  steamer 
or  kettle  cover  is  removed  from  the  boiling  pot,  dis- 
tilled w'ater  drips  from  it.  This  is  all  that  rain  is, 
vapor  of  water  condensed,  simply  distilled  water  con- 
taining a  few  impuritie'S  it  has  washed  out  <i  the 
atmosphere. 

This  rain  water  falling  on  soil,  containing  lime  or 
other  mineral  elements,  dissolves  the  minerals  and  be- 
comes "hard."  Both  wells  and  springs  give  forth  hard 
water.  Water  drawn  from  granite  or  slate  is  quite 
likely  to  be  soft  or  free  frc^m  minerals:  but  w^ell-water 
is  liable  to  be  very  badly  contaminated  if  located  in 
the  vicinity  of  human  liabitations.  Wells  driven  to 
a  great  depth  are  free  from  germ  infection,  but  if  in  a 
limestone  or  other  mineral  region  will  be  hard.  Surface 
wells  are  a  catch-all  for  toads  and  frogs  and  snails  and 
worms  and  bugs  of  every  description;  and  if  within 
fifty  to  one  hundred  feet  of  a  cess-pool,  ])rivy  vault  or 


THE  SEVEN  ESSENTIALS  27 

barnyard  where  animal  excrement  accumulates  are 
almost  sure  to  be  full  <  f  ,s^erms  from  the  bowel  dis- 
charges— Bacillus  Coli — which  are  a  cause  of  very  se- 
rious sickness,  in  the  way  of  Peritonitis,  obscure  fevers 
and  stomach  and  bowel  difficulties,  and  may  contain 
typhoid  germs.  Especially  is  this  true  when  the  wells 
run  low.  Once  in  a  great  while  a  well  may  be  found 
which  has  a  vein  of  good  water  passing  right  through 
it.     Such  a  well  is  much  safer  than  others. 

The  water  that  milch  cows  drink  from  polluted  pools 
and  streams  often  conveys  disease  germs  to  the  milk. 
The  flesh  of  hogs  fed  on  tannery  refuse  has  an  unbear- 
able odor  and  taste  even  to  the  one  who  is  accustomed 
to  eating  pork.  If  musty  grain  is  fed  to  hens  the  eggs 
will  taste  musty.  If  a  nursing  mother  drinks  freely  of 
beer  her  babe  will  lie  in  a  drunken  stu})()r  and  good 
authorities  assert  that  the  appetite  for  strong  drink 
nia\-  thus  be  produced  and  fostered.  There  is  no  doubt 
that  corrupt  foods  and  drinks  corrupt  the  tiesh  of  the 
animal  and  all  its  prodticts  as  well  the  secretions  as  the 
excretions.  It  is  not  reasonable  to  suppose  that  an 
animal  could  long  take  in  corrupt  food  and  drink  with- 
out being  weakened  to  the  extent  that  its  system 
would  fail  to  destroy  the  corruption  taken  in  and  per- 
mit some  of  it  to  pass  out  in  the  natural  secretions 
of  the  body.  In  \iew  of  these  facts  ))ure  water  only 
sh'  uld  be  ])rovide(l  for  both  mankind  and  animals. 
How  to  obtain  i)ure  water  in  sufficient  supply  is  one 
of  the  greatest  problems  of  the  age.  and  \et  it  can 
be  easily  done  with  a  little  care  and  ex|)ense,  as  we 
shall  see  in  the  next  chapter. 


28.  ESSENTIALS    TO    LIFE    AND     HEALTH 

Food. 

There  arc  tive  classes  of  food  substances  which 
are  perfectly  adapted  to  the  five  departments  of  the 
great  digestive  system  of  the  body.  These  substances 
are:  proteids  or  albumenoids,  starches,  sugars,  fats 
and  mineral  salts,  beside  the  waste  or  undigestible 
portions.  Starches  and  sugars  are  now  generally  classi- 
fied together  under  the  name  carbohydrates,  because 
they  both  enter  the  blood  as  sugar.  We  have  thought 
best  to  retain  the  old  classification  because  they  enter 
the  body  as  separate  substances.  The  difference  is  a 
mere  technicality. 

The  i)roteids  are  chieHy  converted  into  muscle,  nerve, 
and  brain.  The  best  examples  of  this  food  element  are 
the  gluten  of  the  grains,  the  white  cf  eggs,  and  lean 
flesh.  The  foods  which  are  rich  in  it  are  wheat,  rye, 
oats,  peas,  beans,  lentils  and  nuts,  and  some  kinds 
of  rice.  In  wheat-growing  countries  children  often 
chew  wheat  and  make  "gum"  of  it.  This  gum  is  as 
nearly  pure  gluten  as  can  be  obtained,  with  some  parti- 
cles of  bran.  In  peas,  beans,  and  nuts  it  is  called  pro- 
teid  ;  in  lean  tlesh  fibrin,  and  albumen  in  the  white  of 
eggs,  but  it  is  essentially  the  same  in  all. 

Starch  is  the  commonest  of  all  food  elements.  It  is 
found  in  all  grains,  fruits  and  vegetables.  Potatoes  are 
rich  in  it.  In  the  process  of  digestion  starch  is  con- 
verted into  sugar  and  acts  as  a  natural  energizer  on 
all  the  nerve  cells  and  muscle  tissues  of  the  body.  This 
form  of  food  energy  is  that  which  gives  warmth,  force 
and  vivacity  to  the  whole  body.  Some  of"  it  is  changed 
into  and  stored  up  as  fat  in  the  body.  ' 

The  fats  include  all  forms  of  animal  and  vegetable 
oils  whether  semi-solid  or  liciuid.     Most  of  the  former 


THE  SEVEN  ESSENTIALS  29 

while  they  may  be  classified  as  food  are  very  objec- 
tional)lc  because  of  their  impurities.  The  same  is  true 
of  many  other  animal  substances,  '['he  ofifice  of  this 
kind  of  food  is  to  produce  warmth,  and  lubricate  the 
various  tissues. 

Sugar  is  found  in  various  forms.  'Jdie  fruits  contain 
a  very  wholesome  kind  which  is  produced  by  sun- 
light ripening-  the  starch.  Sugar  is  an  energy  and  heat 
producer.  Honey  is  a  very  good  article  for  occasional 
use.  Cane  sugar,  which  is  the  ordinary  sugar  sold 
for  domestic  use.  is  changed  into  fruit  sugar  before 
it  can  be  taken  up  as  nutrition  by  the  blood. 

The  mineral  salts  are  found  in  all  food  substances, 
especially  the  whole  grains  and  green  foods.  They 
are  the  substances  from  which  the  bones,  teeth,  nails 
and  hair  are  produced.  .Milk  contains  all  these  ele- 
ments in  liquid  form  perfectly  adapted  to  the  wants  of 
the  babe,  provided  the  mother  is  in  health,  and  properly 
nourished.  The  only  other  complete  food  is  wheat. 
Fresh  eggs  from  healthy  fowls  come  pretty  near  being 
a  perfect  food.  The  principal  thing  they  lack  is  waste 
material  to  provide  bulk. 

The  body  takes  care  of  these  food  elements  in  the 
following  order  if  they  are  properly  prepared  in  the 
nioulli.  The  saliva  digests  cooked  starch  in  the  mouth, 
and  in  the  stomach  for  a  short  time  after  the  food  is 
swallowed,  but  does  not  necessarily  complete  the  pro- 
cess. I'ruit  sugars  are  assimilated  in  the  stomach.  The 
gastric  juice  in  the  stomach  digests  all  forms  of  albu- 
menoids.  The  bile  from  the  li\cr  begins  the  digestion 
of  all  forms  of  fats  in  the  small  intestines.  They  under- 
go no  digestive  change  in  the  stomach.  The  pancreatic 
fluid  continues  this  work  and  in  connection  with  the 


30  ESSENTIALS    TO    LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

intestinal  fluids  digests  cane  sugar  and  raw  starch  and 
finishes  up  the  digestion  of  all  the  other  food  elements. 
hVuit  sugars  enter  the  blood  with  little  or  ncf  digestion. 
This  accounts  for  the  exhilaration  and  restfulness  that 
follows  the  taking  of  a  draught  of  fruit  juice  when  one 
is  weary. 

Science  has  said  little  of  the  digestion  of  the  bone 
making  material.  It  is  the  opinion  of  the  writer  that 
it  is  separated  out  all  through  the  digestive  process, 
and  especially  prepared  for  final  assimilation  by  the 
action  of  the  oxygen  of  the  water  and  air.  Some  cases 
where  the  free  drinking  of  distilled  water  has  produced 
marked  changes  in  the  nature  of  the  nails  and  hair  in 
a  few  weeks  seem  to  prove  this.  Distilled  or  soft  water 
has  not  exhausted  its  resolvent  properties  on  minerals 
in  the  earth,  as  is  true  of  hard  water.  Hence  it  is 
capable  of  handling  the  mineral  element  in  the  food. 

After  the  food  leaves  the  stomach  the  work  of  as- 
similation or  absorption  goes  on  in  the  small  intestines 
and  continues  to  increase  until  all  is  absorbed  that  can 
be  cared  for.  This  thin  liquid  material  thus  absorbed, 
is  taken  up  by  the  lacteals  and  venous  absorbents  and 
carried  into  the  venous  circulation.  The  veins  carry 
it  to  the  liver  where  the  whole  mass  undergoes  the 
process  of  further  digestion  and  partial  purification. 
From  the  liver  it  is  drawn  forward  to  the  heart.  The 
heart  pumps  it  onward  into  the  lungs  where  coming- 
in  contact  with  the  oxygen  from  the  air  the  nutrition 
in  the  blood  is  fully  prepared  to  carry  on  the  work 
of  building  up  every  class  of  tissue  in  the  body.  When 
the  blood  reaches  the  lungs  the  sugar  and  fats  have 
entirely  disappeared  from  it.  From  the  lungs  the 
bright  arterial  blood  is  borne  forward  by  the  pulsations 


THE  SEVEN  ESSENTIALS  31 

of  the  heart,  and  by  a  process  as  marvelous  as  anything 
in  the  universe,  each  class  of  building  material  is  at- 
tracted from  the  blood,  stopping  at  just  the  place  it  is 
wanted.  The  white  blood  corpuscles  live  and  travel 
in  the  blood  current,  devouring  the  disease  germs 
which  they  meet  with^  and  like  the  water  amoeba  they 
seem  to  have  an  individual  existence. 

h  is  a  complex  and  marvelous  process  by  which 
the  life  in  the  plants  is  changed  into  animal  life,  and 
we  have  hardly  touched  the  subject  with  the  tips  ot 
our  fingers,  but  this  is  all  we  liave  space  inr  in  this 
book. 

Clothing 

Clothing  includes  our  garments  for  modesty  and  com- 
fort as  well  as  the  house  in  which  we  live.  Protection 
from  the  elements  is  the  thought.  Before  sin  entered 
this  world  man  needed  no  clothing  Init  the  halo  of 
light.  He  was  crowned  with  glory.  The  climates 
of  earth  had  not  yet  been  broken  up  by  the  new  dis- 
tribution of  land  and  mountain  chains  and  oceans,  as 
it  was  at  the  time  of  the  great  flood  ;  so  man  needed 
no  protection  from  the  elements.  Hence  clothing  at 
the  beginning  was  not  to  be  reckoned  as  an  essential 
to  life  like  the  other  things  we  arc  dealing  with,  but 
became  a  necessity  only  on  account  of  the  changed 
climatic  relations.  There  are  a  few  locations  on  earth 
where  almost  ideal  temperature  conditions  prevail ; 
where  ocean  temperatures  and  tropical  conditions 
modify  the  atmosphere  until  onl}'  the  forest  shades 
are  needed  for  ])rotcction  against  the  direct  rays  of 
the  sun  ;  where  only  the  lightest  covering  is  needed 
at  nicfht.  and  onlv  the  liirht  weight  uarment  of  modostv 


32  ESSENTIALS    TO    LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

by  day.  I^>ut  such  climates  breed  death  through  the 
malarial  and  other  fever  infections  due  to  insect  bites, 
and  with  a  perverted  race  that  needs  to  be  kept  hus- 
tling to  secure  the  necessities  of  existence  in  order  that 
they  may  be  kept  out  of  mischief,  the  ideal  tempera- 
ture conditions  alone,  do  not  minister  to  the  well- 
being  of  mankind.  Tt  is  better  that  the  race  be  scat- 
tered in  the  inhos])itable  regions  of  the  earth  and  be 
compelled  to  use  their  ingenuity  and  energies  in  caring 
for  their  wants.  The  compulsions  of  our  environment 
are  not  an  unmitigated  evil  by  any  means.  Think  of 
the  develoi)ment  of  mental  and  physical  power  that  is 
forced  upon  the  race  through  this  one  item  alone  of 
]>reparing  ])ri)tectii)n  from  the  elements.  The  ma- 
terials exist  e\er\-where,  and  man  is  the  better  morally, 
mentally  and  ])hysically  for  the  necessities  that  com- 
])el  development. 

Exercise. 

The  record  of  man's  endowment  as  master  of 
creation  says  that  "The  Lord  God  took  the  man  and 
])ut  him  in  the  garden  of  Eden  t(^  dress  it  and  to  keep 
it.""  And  after  he  had  lost  his  first  estate  and  was 
shut  out  of  the  garden,  part  of  the  fiat  of  his  future 
existence  was.  "In  the  sweat  of  thy  face  shalt  thou 
eat  bread  till  tliou  return  unto  the  earth."  Again 
wliere  the  ri'cord  is  gi\en  of  a  renewed  heaven  and 
earth,  and  a  redeemed  race  over  in  the  future  state 
as  found  in  Isa.  <^5,  we  read.  "They  shall  build  houses 
and  inhabit  them.  They  shall  plant  vineyards  and  eat 
tlie  fruit  of  them."  So  by  the  divine  ordination  man 
is  made  for  ])hysical  labor.  The  fact  that  some  men 
are    "1)0111    tired"'    does    not    justif\-    inactivity.      This 


THE  SEVEN  ESSENTIALS  33 

wonderful  frame  so  supple,  so  elastic,  so  strong,  so 
versatile,  so  capable,  so  perfectly  adapted  to  care  for 
itself,  with  the  responsibility  of  caring  for  all  creation, 
in  the  very  nature  of  the  case  must  have  been  created 
for  labor,  yea,  for  wearing  toil  if  necessary.  There 
has  been  something  wrong  in  the  training  when  one 
has  such  an  aversion  to  labor  that  it  is  considered 
a  disgrace  to  soil  the  hands  with  honest  toil.  There 
is  something  wrong  with  both  mind  and  body  when 
a  spirit  of  irksomeness  thus  takes  possession  of  a 
human  being  and  he  lapses  into  lethargy  and  inertia. 
\\  atch  the  healthy  kids  and  lambkins,  and  kittens, 
and  pui~)pies,  and  the  older  animals  too.  They  all  have 
their  pla\'  spells.  They  seem  to  love  activity.  Even 
the   swine   has  ])layful   spells   before   a   storm. 

There  can  l)e  no  mistake  in  assuming  that  man- 
kind was  made  for  useful  ])hysical  activity;  and  the 
sooner  the  youthful  minds- are  trained  into  this  idea 
the  better  for  them  and  for  the  great  world  which 
has  a  right  to  demand  of  every  man  that  he  do  his 
very  best  physically  and  mentally  tn  produce,  and 
leave  l)ehin(l  him  a  heritage  that  shall  bring  comfort 
and  lasting  good  to  that  world  and  race  to  which  he 
was  indebted   for  all  he  had  and   was. 

Rest. 

Not  only  the  night  of  sleep  and  the  little  stop- 
jiing  ])laces  throughout  the  day  of  i>hysical  weariness, 
but  rest  of  mind,  soul  and  heait  :  that  peaceful  calm 
that  comes  only  to  him  who  realizes  his  dejiendence 
on  his  Creator  for  e\erything  lie  has;  rest  is  all  this 
and  more.  To  him  only  who  grasps  the  great  truth 
that  "In   lliin   we  live  and  move  and  have  «  ur  being" 


34  ESSENTIALS    TO    LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

and  that  "witliout  nie  ye  can  do  nothing,"  comes  that 
full  rest  of  faith  which  is  the  true  foundation  of  all 
health  and  vital  activity.  Confidence  is  the  mental 
soil  and  peace  the  fruitage  of  rest.  Where  peace  is 
there  will  be  prosperity. 

That  wear  and  tear  of  mind  which  produces  sighs 
and  groans,  destroys  the  appetite,  suspends  the  func- 
tions of  the  body,  makes  the  head  hot  and  feverish 
and  the  feet  cold,  and  sends  the  sufiferer  to  bed  to 
toss  sleeplessly  through  the  night,  is  no  part  of  Chris- 
tian experience,  and  is  not  in  order  for  any  sound- 
minded  sane  person.  It  is  this  miserable  worry  that 
sends  men  to  the  insane  asylum  and  the  suicide's 
grave.  Soul  rest  is  the  true  normal  condition,  without 
which  there  is  no  sound  health.  The  anxiety,  care^ 
worry  and  fretting  have  no  place  in  a  sane  mind.  I 
was  once  riding  with  a  gentleman  after  two  horses  he 
was  driving.  One  was  doing  his  work  quietly,  calmly 
and  coolly.  The  other  was  ])rancing  and  fretting  and 
foaming  from  head  to  foot.  The  driver  remarked, 
"That  horse  makes  me  tired.  He  acts  all  the  time 
just  as  if  he  was  going  to  pin-feather  but  he  never 
does."  So  with  thousands  of  people.  They  have  a 
terrible  anxiety  about  something  that  never  happens 
and  never  can  happen.  If  there  was  any  fun  or  pleas- 
ure or  comfort  or  money  in  it,  or  any  kind  of  profit 
whatsoever  it  might  be  justifiable.  I  know  of  noth- 
ing but  common  sense  and  the  application  of  the  grace 
that  is  revealed  in  God's  word  that  can  really  cure 
this  condition.  "Rest  in  the  Lord  and  wait  patiently 
for  Him;  trust  also  in  Him  and  He  shall  bring  it  to 
pass,  and  He  shall  bring  forth  thy  righteousness  as 
the  light  and  thy  judgment  as  the  noonday."     "Fret 


THE  SEVEN  ESSENTIALS  35 

not  thyself  because  of  evil  doers,  neither  he  thou 
envious  against  the  workers  of  iniquity  for  they  shall 
soon  be  cut  down  as  the  grass  and  wither  as  the  green 
herb."  "Fret  not  thyself  in  any  wise,  it  tendeth  only 
to  evil  doing."   (Am.  Revision.) 

To  the  Christian  we  may  say  there  is  no  faith  or 
trust  in  worrying.  To  the  non-christian  there  is  no 
common  sense  in  it.  And  to  all  there  is  no  righteous- 
ness in  it;  "it  tendeth  only  to  evil  doing." 

At  night  God  turns  ofif  the  radiant  activity  of  the 
sun  that  man  may  be  physically  rebuilt.  His  volun- 
tary powers  cease  their  activities  so  that  the  involun- 
tary nervous  system  can  rid  the  body  from  the  waste 
of  the  previous  day's  toil,  and  replace  this  tissue  with 
new  material  wrought  out  of  the  pre\ious  day's  food 
and  sunlight  and  air.  Physical  rest  is  an  absolute 
necessity  for  existence,  and  mental  rest  must  pave 
the  way  for  it  or  we  soon  reap  a  harvest  of  nervous 
prostration  or  insanity,  and  other  ills  too  nunuM-ous  to 
mention  here. 

Does  anyone  look  upon  these  common  things  with 
indifference,  while  his  imagination  wanders  after  medi- 
cine or  miracle  or  some  Healing  fad?  Are  these  na- 
tural things  too  simple?  Does  familiarity  with  them 
breed  contempt?  Are  they  too  tame?  Then  just  let 
him  dismiss  these  common  things  for  a  time.  Stop 
eating  for  a  week.  Cease  drinking  for  two  or  three 
days,  or  try  a  c|uicker,  more  decisive  test,  just  stop 
breathing  for  a  minute  and  a  half,  blither  one  of  these 
experiments  will  most  likely  restore  respect  for  the 
natural  things  unless  the  individual  has  lost  his  bal- 
ance. 

These  seven  essentials  are  the  eternal  verities,  the 


36  ESSENTIALS    TO    LIFE     AND    HEALTH 

evcrlastini^:  foundations  of  all  existence.  They  are  -the 
sources  whence  all  life  is  drawn.  There  is  nothing 
more,  outside  of  them,  except  creative  power,  that  is 
in  any  way  necessary  to  life.  But  is  not  surgery 
necessary?  Surely.  But  when  you  set  a  bone  you  give 
the  part  rest,  and  when  you  remove  a  tumor  you  take 
away  a  burden  and  give  the  body  rest.  So  the  great 
science  of  surgery  comes  under  God's  great  Law  of 
Rest.  Faradic,  galvanic,  and  static  electricity  are  all 
forms  of  exercise  to  the  tissue  cells.  Electric  and  other 
lights  come  under  sunlight,  whence  they  were  de- 
rived. Under  exercise  would  we  classify  massage  and 
osteopathy  and  artificial  respiration.  Germicides  un- 
der sunlight,  the  greatest  of  all  germ  destroyers,  and 

the  producer  of  most  harmless  germicides.  The  great 
Pestalozzian  system  of  education  now  so  well  known 
through  the  influence  of  the  normal  schools,  justifies 
the  classification  of  all  the  lesser  of  any  kind  under 
the  greater  whether  there  be  a  law  of  dependence  or 
not.  .And  parasite  destro^^ers  we  would  classify  with 
those  things  that  give  the  body  rest.  Stimulants  are 
the  cause  of  forced  activity  in  the  vital  nervous  sys- 
tem. Cathartics  give  forced  exercise  to  the  alimentary 
canal.  The  safe  use  of  anesthetics  and  sedatives  may 
be  classed  under  the  La\y  of  Rest.  The  only  excuse 
for  the  use  of  these  things  is  found  in  the  old  adage, 
"Of  two  evils  choose  the  least."  ft  is  better  to  take 
the  risk  of  an  anesthetic  than  to  suffer  for  want  of  a 
necessary  surgical  operation.  In  some  cases,  as  the 
passing  of  gall  stones,  it  is  wiser  to  relax  the  tissues 
with  sedatives  and  anesthetics  than  to  suffer  the  pain. 
What  about  the  use  of  poison  medicines  in  general? 
The  body  wears  out  its  vitality  trying  to  get  rid  of 


THE  SEVEN  ESSENTIALS  37 

them.  Some  men  take  strychnine  for  months  in  mi- 
nute doses  and  live  through  it.  But  that  does  not 
prove  that  they  received  any  benefit  from  it.  The 
less  poisons  a  physician  dispenses  the  better  his  pa- 
tients thrive.  But  there  are  non-poisonous  remedies 
of  great  value  in  the  treatment  of  the  sick.  Germi- 
cides furnish  an  example. 


CHAPTER  III, 

The  Laws  of  Life. 

We  are  now  prepared  to  define  the  laws  of  life. 
When  you  understand  your  relations  to  sunlight  and 
heat  and  other  forms  of  sun  energy  and  know  how 
to  use  them  for  your  own,  and  the  physical  good  of 
others,  then  you  understand  the  law  of  health  with 
regard  to  sunlight.  Whether  written  or  unwritten 
it  matters  not.  So  with  regard  to  ever}-  one  of  these 
essentials;  sunlight,  air,  water,  food,  clothing,  exer- 
cise and  rest.  \\'hen  one  knows  how  to  use  each  of 
these  things  as  they  ought  to  be  used  to  sustain  life, 
then  he  knows  the  laws  of  life  and  health.  Hence 
we  may  define :  The  Laws  of  Life  are  those  principles 
which  show^  our  right  relations  to  these  Seven  Es- 
sentials on  which  life  depends.  This  definition  may  be 
amplified  somewhat.  The  Laws  of  Life  are  those 
principles  whether  written  in  the  Word  of  (lod  or 
learned  by  human  experience  which  show  our  right 
relations  to  the  things  in  Nature  on  which  life  de- 
])ends. 

Most,  if  not  all  these  laws  are  found,  at  least  in 
principle,  in  the  T.ible.  lUit  many  of  the  particulars 
have  l)een  learned  through  human  experience. 

The  Laws  of  Sunlight  and  Clothing. 

"(jod  said.  Let  light  be,  and  light  was."  This  was  the 
beo'inniu"'  of  life  to  a  chaotic  world.     As  we  have  seen 


THE  LAWS  OF  LIFE  39 

in  the  former  chapter,  ^the  sun  is  the  source  of  radiant 
energy  to  this  world.  Now  to  q^et  into  and  keep  in 
right  relations  to  this  energy  is  the  first  problem  of 
life. 

We  shall  have  to  deal  with  the  laws  of  sunlight  and 
clothing  in  a  great  measure  together,  because  both  are 
questions  of  warmth  and  comfort,  and  the  two  are  so 
intimately  associated  that  it  is  difficult  to  separate 
them.  The  body  itself  is  fully  prepared  to  generate 
heat  enough  for  comfort  for  moderate  climates,  and  in 
cool  weather  exercise  helps  out  amazingly  in  increas- 
ing heat  production.  And  if  it  is  too  warm,  then  the 
body  has  power  to  cool  itself  by  pouring  out  moisture 
on  the  surface,  and  this  evaporation  lowers  the  tem- 
perature. So  for  moderately  comforttble  climates 
there  is  little  necessity  for  heat  production,  or  for 
protection  from  heat.  The  shade  of  park  and  forest  is 
also  a  great  protection.  It  is  indeed  wonderful  how 
a  healthy  body  can  adapt  itself  even  to  extremes  of 
temperature. 

Witness  the  domestic  animals.  We  have  to  pro- 
vide them  shelter  from  the  cold  when  they  are  not  exer- 
cising, but  what  extremes  of  temperature  they  do 
endure  plodding  for  the  whole  day  through  snow  and 
ice  in  an  atmosphere  far  below  zero.  The  wild  ani- 
mals of  our  zone  change  their  coats  for  comfort  to 
meet  the  changing  seasons.  Some  of  tlic  highest 
degrees  of  civilization  have  been  reached  and  the 
greatest  health  and  longevity  attained  where  the  range 
of  temperature  is  between  30  and  100  degrees  F.  Some 
of  the  hardiest  and  most  active  nations  of  earth  have 
existed  where  the  temperature  frequently  goes  below 
zero,  and  fioni  that  up  to  100  degrees,     ."-^onie  nations 


40  ESSENTIALS    TO    LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

today  are  holding  vig-orous  sway  where  the  cold  for 
five  or  six  months  of  the  year  is  intense.  These  have 
learned  to  build  their  houses  for  protection  more  than 
for  beauty.  The  body  must  have  protection  and  the 
house  must  be  so  built  that  the  coal  and  wood  and  oil, 
the  previously  prepared  products  of  sun  energy,  may 
be  utilized  to  the  best  advantage  for  warmth. 

It  is  absolutely  necessary  for  the  highest  develop- 
ment to  have  changes  of  temperature.  Continuous 
extremes  of  cold  or  heat  become  depressing.  They 
are  very  trying  to  the  human  constitution.  So  man 
must  clothe  himself  and  build  his  house  with  a  view 
to  keeping  his  surroundings  at  a  reasonably  even  tem- 
perature. While  it  is  true  that  low  temperatures  do 
compel  activity,  and  that  some  cases  do  need  the 
stimulating  effects  of  a  cool  climate  for  a  while,  we 
should  not  conclude  that  a  house  temperature  of  65 
to  70  degrees  F.  is  enervating.  When  the  outside 
temperature  is  about  zero,  or  lower,  we  can  keep 
fairly  comfortable  with  clothing  and  exercise,  but 
when  we  enter  the  house  and  the  wraps  are  laid  aside 
and  the  vigorous  exercise  ceases,  we  then  need  the 
even,  steady  temperature  that  is  most  conducive  to 
comfort.  And  those  who  are  confined  to  the  house 
in  cold  weather  can  dress  themselves  for  the  even 
summer  temperature  of  the  home  and  when  they  go 
out  make  additions  to  meet  the  outside  necessities—- 
the  heavy  overcoat,  overshoes,  ear  mufflers,  mittens 
or  gloves,  and  equestrian  tights.  The  even  balance  of 
the  blood  circulation  must  be  maintained  or  sickness 
follows.  There  is  no  virtue  in  braving  the  cold  with- 
out the  overcoat  and  the  tights.  It  may  be  heroic, 
but  it  is  foolhardy,  if  not  forced  by  necessity. 


THE  LAWS  OF  LIFE  41 

For  every  climate  the  house  should  be  built  to  pre- 
serve an  even  temperature.  Especially  should  atten- 
tion be  paid  to  having  the  floor  tight  and  warm,  so  that 
the  feet  and  limbs  may  be  kept  as  warm  as  the  body. 
A  double  floor  with  good  building  paper  between 
should  be  regarded  as  a  necessity.  The  double  walls 
of  the  sides  should  be  interlined  with  the  same.  This 
does  much  to  shut  out  cold  and  dampness.  It  is  our 
impression  that  if  the  heat  were  applied  to  the  floor 
of  the  house,  and  the  floor  were  kept  warm,  a  much 
lower  temperature  of  room  would  be  tolerated.  We 
are  told  that  this  is  the  method  used  in  Korea  in  the 
best  buildings. 

Install  electric  fans  and  use  cork  hats  for  the  tropics 
and  heated  seasons  of  the  temperate  zone.  These  are 
not  luxuries.  Thev  become  a  necessitv.  Light  and 
warmth  are  necessary.  Rut  the  direct  rays  of  the 
sun  must  be  avoided  in  the  tropics  and  during  heated 
terms  everywhere.  The  sun-umbrella  may  save  a 
sun-stroke.  Again  there  are  seasons  and  times  when 
we  should  bask  in  the  full  direct  rays  of  the  sun.  There 
are  those  who  live  too  much  in  the  shadows.  They 
should  "Come  out  in  the  sunshine  and  let  their  souls 
(and  bodie.s)   bloom." 

In  hot  countries,  houses  should  be  built  especially 
for  the  circulation  of  air.  and  should  be  properly 
screened  with  tine  woven  wire  screens  to  keep  out 
noxious  insects  and  admit  free  circulation  of  air.  It 
is  worth  all  it  costs  to  be  cool  and  have  the  comfort 
and  safety  of  being  free  from  insect  pests.  The  floors 
should  be  made  of  water  lime  or  Portland  cement  and 
sand,  or  tiles,  so  they  can  be  sprinkled  and  kept  cool 
and  clean  :  the  roof  should  be  as  thick  as  necessary  to 


42  ESSENTIALS    TO    LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

keep  out  the  direct  heat  of  the  sun.  A  double  roof 
is  a  g^reat  help  and  hollow  cement  blocks  for  the  sides. 
Such  a  floor  as  above  mentioned  should  be  sprinkled 
so  as  to  keep  the  house  cool  by  evaporation.  If  some 
distasteful  antiseptic,  like  carbolic  acid  well  diluted,  is 
used,  this  will  clear  out  all  insects.  Disease  germs 
have  less  chance  in  a  house  thus  built  and  kept. 

The  personal  clothing  should  all  be  suspended  from 
the  shoulders  leaving  the  waist-line  perfectly  free,  so 
as  in  no  way  to  interfere  with  the  breathing  or  ether 
internal  functions  of  the  body.  Comfort  and  freedom 
are  the  first  principles  of  dress.  This  is  also  necessary 
to  spiritual  comfort  and  freedom.  In  all  high  tem- 
peratures perhaps  the  best  clothing  is  linen,  because 
it  absorbs  the  moisture  quickly  and  gives  it  oft  readily. 
Cotton  is  a  good  material  for  most  moderate  climates. 
Silk  is  always  good  for  those  who  are  able  to  have  it. 
For  cooler  climes,  cotton,  silk  or  linen  or  even  wool 
underwear  with  good  heavy  woolen  or  fur  over-gar- 
ments are  a  stern  necessity.  In  changeable  seasons 
the  garments  sliould  be  changed  as  often  as  the  wea- 
ther changes  if  only  an  outer  garment  is  donned  and 
doITed  to  meet  the  circumstances. 

The  protection  for  the  night  is  the  bedding.  Beds 
should  be  elastic  so  as  to  shape  to  the  body.  There 
is  neither  moral  nor  physical  virtue  in  sleeping  on  a 
plank  or  a  cluster  of  hummocks.  During  the  damp 
seasons  beds  away  from  the  fire  should  be  dried  out 
two  or  three  times  a  week.  Damp  beds  exhaust  vi- 
tality unnecessarily.  When  one  experiences  chilly  sen- 
sations for  some  time  after  retiring,  better  dry  out  the 


THE  LAWS  OF  LIFE  43 

bedding"  by  the  fire.  This  may  save  a  case  of  pneu- 
monia.   Tt  will  save  a  lot  of  wretchedness,  at  least. 

Make  the  bod}'  comfortable  and  physically  haj)i)y 
in  its  relation  to  lii;ht  and  warmth,  and  do  not  snp- 
pose  for,  a  moment  that  there  is  any  virtue  in  shiver- 
in_c:,  or  going  w  ith  cold  feet,  or  keeping  the  house  cool 
so  as  to  toughen  the  famil}'  to  the  weather.  Keep  the 
winter  temperature  of  the  house  at  65  or  70  degrees 
one  yard  from  the  floor.  If  the  floor  is  warm  you 
will  all  be  happy.  If  the  floor  cannot  be  kept  warm 
you  had  better  get  some  felt  slippers.  Keep  the  feet 
and  limbs  warm  and  the  head  cool.  The  feebler  ones 
of  the  family  should  be  looked  after  and  supplied  with 
extra  clothing.  Make  a  wall  crib  for  the  baby  so  as  to 
keep  him  off  the  floor,  which  is  usually  from  10  to 
20  degrees  colder  than  two  yards  above  it.  Physical 
comfort  is  the  end  to  be  gained.  Without  it  what  is 
the  use  of  murdering  along  and  eking  out  a  miser- 
able existence? 

Christmas  and  other  presents  better  be  useful  com- 
fortable articles  of  clothing,  than  the  gew-gaws  and 
gim-cracks   commonly   used  for  this   purpose. 

For  ^'entilating  purposes,  full  provision  should  be 
made  for  warming  the  air  in  winter  as  it  comes  into 
the  house.  It  may  be  admitted  into  a  jacket  about  the 
heater  before  entering  the  living  rooms.  This  is  a 
simple  and  inexpensive  way.  The  plati  shoidd  be  laid 
S(»  that  the  \entilation  may  be  under  control  when  it 
is  extra  cold  and  when  the  wind  is  high.  People  in 
temperate  climates  should  not  forget  the  window 
screens  in  warm  weather.  There  must  be  free  circula- 
tion of  air  in  the  house,  or  hnig  and  throat  difficulties 
will  become  romnion  in  the   familw     W'inrlow  vcntila- 


44  ESSENTIALvS    TO    LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

tioii  is  good  if  well  managed.  The  air  must  be  kept 
renewed,  so  thai  one  coming  in  from  the  outside  will 
not  notice  any  material  difference  except  warmth. 
Flies  must  be  kept  out  to  prevent  typhoid  and  other 
infection  in  the  food,  and  mosquitoes  to  prevent  ma- 
laria and  yellow   fever. 

Man  cannot  always  live  in  the  open  sunlight.  But 
those  whose  emj)loyment  keeps  them  from  its  direct 
rays  will  suffer  serious  loss  unless  some  portion  of 
each  day  is  spent  under  the  direct  beams  of  the  sun. 
The  body  needs  its  chemical  action  in  every  depart- 
ment. One  of  "the  great  benefits  is  the  aid  it  renders 
to  the  skin  in  throwing  ofif  impurities.  There  is  little 
doubt  but  that  it  works  all  through  the  bodv  as  a 
germ  destroyer,  for  the  entire  interior  of  the  body  is 
illuminated  when  exposed  to  the  sunlight.  To  take 
in  the  sun  energy  by  day  and  conserve  it  by  night 
so  that  the  whole  being  is  kept  comfortable  all  the 
time,  is  a  most  important  advance  step  in  the  way 
to  Life  and  Health.  There  are  climates  and  seasons 
where  the  direct  rays  are  too  strong  for  the  body. 
The  al)ove  ad\-ice  needs  modifying  for  these  times  and 
places. 

Last,  but  not  least,  avoid  too  much  clothing.  By 
neglecting  the  cool  bath  one  may  feel  the  sense  of 
chilliness  in  the  skin  and  be  led  to  ])ut  on  nuich  more 
clothing  than  is  really  necessary  or  good  for  the  Ix  dy. 
Better  to  use  the  dry  hand  rub  or  mitten  friction  and 
a  little  oil,  thus  waking  nji  the  circulation  in  the  skin, 
than  to  weigh  down  the  body  unnecessarily.  Much 
less  clothing  is  required  if  the  skin  is  kept  active. 


THE  LAWS  OF  LIFE  45 

The  Law  of  Breathing. 

All  hreathing  should  he  done  through  the  nostrils. 
If  the  nasal  passages  are  closed  up,  have  the  obstruc- 
tion removed.  The  moist  nasal  passages  take  out  the 
dust  and  germs;  and  the  air  is  warmed  and  moistened 
before  it  reaches  the  vocal  cords  and  the  lungs. 

A  full  use  of  the  lung  capacity  is  seldom  attained, 
and  but  very  few  medical  men  have  yet  fully  realized 
the  relations  between  the  use  of  the  diaphragm  on  one 
hand  and  heart  action  and  the  peristalsis  of  the  stom- 
ach and  bowels  on  the  other  hand,  not  to  mention  the 
effect  of  full  breathing  on  the  liver  and  spleen. 

The  diaphragm,  which  is  the  floor  of  the  chest  cav- 
ity is  the  leading  muscle  of  the  human  bod3\  It  is 
the  organ  of  breathing.  As  air  is  the  most  imme- 
diatelv  important  essential,  so  dia])hragm  action  is 
ilic  most  important  muscular  action  in  the  body.  The 
diaphragm  crowns  tip  in  the  center  something  like 
an  ojien  umbrella  when  the  breath  is  out,  and  when 
the  breath  is  drawn  in  it  drops  down  in  the  center 
and  expands  its  border  at  the  waist  line.  So  that  with 
every  full  natural  breath  the  waist  line  enlarges  from 
one  to  thre'e  inches.  The  lungs  simply  receive  and 
hold  the  air.  This  diaphragm  action  also  accom- 
])lishes  wonderful  things  for  the  work  of  digestion 
The  stomach  lies  up  under  the  left  ribs  extendins^ 
across  just  beyotid  what  we  call  the  pit  of  the  stomach. 
The  liver  is  up  under  tlie  right  ribs  close  to  the  dia- 
])hragm.  So  everv  downward  moxement  of  the 
diaphragm  gives  the  st<^mach  and  liver  a  gentle 
squeeze;  and  this  motion  reaches  every  organ  m  the 
abdomen.  Thus  a  constant  gentle  up  and  (h  \vn  move- 
ment   is    imparted    to   all    the    internal    organs    of    the 


46  ESSENTIALS    TO    LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

body;  keeping  all  the  involuntary  muscles  that  hold 
the  vital  organs  in  place  in  a  lively,  healthy  condition. 
If  the  breathing  act  were  not  hampered  by  worry,  nor 
restricted  by  waist  bands  there  would  be  no  weak, 
flabby  organs  inside  the  body.  Even  the  muscles  that 
sustain  the  uterus  would  be  kept  healthy  and  strong, 
and  there  would  not  be  that  long  list  of  female  weak- 
nesses we  hear  so  much  about,  and  at  least  three- 
tourths  of  the  physicians  in  the  United  States  of  Amer- 
ica would  have  to  seek  employment  in  other  lines.  If 
Christians  would  only  rise  above  the  influence  of  the 
illustrated  literature  with  which  an  enemy  has  flooded 
the  world,  and  which  is  designed  by  that  enemy  to 
teach  mothers  how  to  shape  the  supple,  plastic  waists 
of  their  daughters  and  arrest  their  development,  so 
that  death  and  sufl:'ering  and  misery  may  reign  over 
the  more  finely  organized  half  of  the  race ;  then  would 
a  reform  begin  which  would  put  i-n  the  shade  all  other 
reforms  that  have  ever  come  to  civilization.  Those 
that  care  to  live  and  be  an  honor  to  existence  will 
struggle  for  emancipation  from  every  fashion  that  in 
any  way  hampers  or  restricts  the  human  body.  This 
custom  of  restricting  the  waist  line,  furnishes  fully 
three  fourths  of  all  the  patients  in  our  sanitariums 
and  hospitals,  sim|)ly  because  bands  at  the  waist  line 
interfere  directly'  and  seriously  with  the  functions 
of  every  vital  organ  in  the  body.  For  this  cause 
nearly  all  serious  diseases  originate  in  these  organs. 
The  remedy  is  U>  reform  the  clothing  by  suspending 
it  from  the  shoulders,  leaving  the  waist  absolutely 
free.  Then  begin  to  use  the  diaphragm  so  that  the 
digestion  and  depuration  may  be  carried  on  without 
interference.     As    long   as   breathing   is   done   by   the 


THE  LAWS  OF  LIFE  47 

upper  chest  muscles  there  will  be  no  natural  aid 
given  to  the  work  of  digestion.  It  will  lake  time  to 
reform  the  breathing  in  some  cases,  but  it  will  pay 
big  returns.  A  course  of  sanitarium  physical  training 
may  be  necessary.  Those  who  really  love  life  will 
feel  the  importance  of  heeding  this  law.  Some,  we 
are  sorry  to  say  are  so  miserable  just  on  account  of 
neglect  on  this  point,  that  life  to  them  is  not  worth 
living.  And  it  would  be  hard  to  rouse  some  of  these 
to  any  real  earnest  action  in  their  own  behalf. 

Perhaps  the  reader  would  like  to  have  the  state- 
ment demonstrated  that  the  diaphragm  and  muscles 
of  breathing  are  one  count  ahead  of  the  heart.  We 
just  take  a  patient  that  is  dead  from  chloroform  or 
ether  or  from  drowning.  His  heart,  of  course,  has 
stopped  beating,  or  he  would  not  be  dead.  Now  let 
the  skilled  manipulator  practice  artificial  respiration — 
that  is,  set  in  motion  the  diaphragm  and  other  breath- 
ing muscles.  There  is  a  chance  that  in  due  time  the 
heart  will  begin  to  beat  again  and  the  patient  live. 
Scores  have  been  thus  resuscitated.  What  is  it  that 
started  the-  heart  to  action?  The  act  of  breathing 
caused  by  using  diaphragm  and  chest  muscles  pass- 
ively. Wliich  muscles,  then,  lead  the  way?  None  can 
fail  to  see  that  it  is  the  diaphragm.  If  the  heart  re- 
sponds to  its  action,  then  must  the  diaphragm  be  the 
leading  muscle.  Though  this  is  true,  it  is  not  best  to 
advance  this  muscle  very  far  ahead  of  the  heart,  for 
both  work  together.  However,  the  diaphragm  has  the 
advantage  of  being  both  voluntary  and  involuntary, 
while  the  heart  is  only  an  involuntary  muscle.  More 
is  said  on  this  point  under  Breathing  as  a  Remedy 
for  Disease. 


48  ESSENTIALS    TO    LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

The  Law  of  Water  Drinking. 

Enough  good  pure  water  should  be  drank  daily  to 
keep  the  blood  and  lymphatic  circulation  at  a  maxi- 
mum state  of  fluidity.  This  will  make  it  possible  for 
the  depurating  organs ;  skin,  liver,  lungs,  bowels,  and 
kidneys  to  throw  out  the  wornout  waste  from  the 
ijody.  With  the  circulation  in  this  condition  there 
can  be  little  or  no  crystallization  of  uric  acid  and  no 
chance  for  the  fluids  to  thicken  and  stagnate  in  the 
finer  vessels  about  the  joints  and  cartilages  and  in 
the  nerves  and  skin  of  the  bones  where  many  of  the 
\eins  and  arteries  and  lymph  vessels  are  not  as  large 
as  hairs.  This  will  take  an  immense  burden  of  labor 
ofif  the  heart  and  save  an  incalculable  amount  of  heart 
energy. 

In  a  case  of  \  cry  weak  heart  when  all  the  func- 
tions of  the  body  are  slowed  u))  and  less  food  is  being 
taken  and  less  water  needed  to  keeji  the  blood  at  a 
])ro])er  consistencw  the  term  "inaxinunn  fluidity" 
would  not  call  for  so  great  a  (|uanfity  of  water  as  in 
a  state  of  average  health.  Van  Noorden,  one  of  the 
best  physicians  in  Europe,  where  people  use  more 
soujis  than  in  America,  restricts  his  patients  who  have 
heart  disease  to  from  two  to  three  pints  of  fluid  daily. 
This  is  about  one-half  what  the  average  person  can 
take  with  ad\antage.  It  is  the  opinion  of  the  writer 
that  the  heart  often  fails  and  becomes  weak  because 
of  the  extra  work  in  handling  a  thickened  blood  sup- 
])lv.  Thinls-  of  the  difference  to  the  heart  between 
l)uiiii)ing  thick.  hea\y.  almost  mud(l\-  blood  through 
the  capillaries;  and  circulating  the  same  blood  when 
tliimu'd  t-  its  natural  fluidity. 

If    \  on    are    comi)elled    to    drink    water    of    doubtful 


THE  LAWS  OF  LIFE  49 

purity,  l:)oil  tor  ten  minutes,  then  settle  and  cool.  This 
will  also  take  much  of  the  linie  out  of  hard  water. 

Rain-water  may  be  filtered  through  charcoal  and 
made  exceedino^ly  good.  To  make  a  filter  get  a 
whiskey  barrel,  or  one  of  that  kind  ;  put  a  false  bottom 
in  it  about  six  inches  above  the  other,  perforated  full 
of  holes.  This  makes  a  reservoir  to  hold  the  filtered 
water.  Put  in  a  faucet  to  draw  ofif  the  water.  Xow 
fill  tine  barrel  two-thirds  full  of  pulverized  charcoal 
about  the  size  of  beans  and  peas,  and  some  of  it 
smaller.  Co\er  the  charcoal  with  six  inches  of  gravel. 
Put  a  dish-pan  in  the  top  of  the  barrel  from  the  center 
of  which  a  hole  two  or  three  inches  in  diameter  has 
been  cut.  Stuff  a  good  sized  sponge  into  this  hole  and 
your  filter  is  all  ready.  Pour  the  cistern  water  into 
the  pan.  It  will  ooze  through  the  sponge  which  takes 
out  the  coarse  impurities  and  the  charcoal  will  thor- 
oughly cleanse  and  sweeten  it.  Wash  the  sponge  twice 
a  week,  and  renew  the  charcoal  once  in  four  or  six 
weeks.  This  will  not  destroy  germs  nor  remove  the 
lime  from  .hard  water.  I'oiling  kills  germs,  ordinary 
freezing  does  not  kill  them,  it  only  stops  their  growth 
for  the  time.  .Some  recent  experiments  indicate  that 
long  continued  freezing  for  several  months  will  de- 
stroy them.  This  method  will  secure  a  very  whole- 
some supply  of  water. 

To  ])urify  hard  water  a  still  will  l)e  necessary.  One 
is  \erv  easily  made  using  an  iron  kettle  for  a  base; 
oil  this  set  a  copper  pail  ah<nit  twenty  inches  high 
with  a  cone  shaped  co\er  and  instead  of  a  bottom  a 
trough  running  all  a1>out  the  inside.  The  pail  should 
be  made  to  tit  the  k(.-ttle  like  a  steamer.  Keep  this 
still  oil  oiu'  of  the  middle  >  <r  back  holes  oi  the  st(n-e 


50  ESSENTIALS    TO    LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

where  it  will  siinnier  all  the  time  and  boil  part  of  the 
time.  The  steam  will  rise  into  the  still  where  it  will 
condense  against  the  sides  and  run  down  into  the 
trough  or  reservoir  whence  it  is  drawn  by  the  faucet. 
Such  a  still  as  this  kept  in  use  constantly  will  distil 
at  least  from  one  to  two  gallons  of  water  a  day,  and 
this  water  will  be  practically  pure. 

A  parting  word.  School  yourself  to  drink  little  at 
your  meals.  A  glass  of  water  on  rising;  a  half  a  cup 
of  hot  water  at  breakfast;  two  glasses  within  two 
hours  of  the  next  meal;  half  a  glass  at  the  noon  meal, 
then  the  same  before  and  at  the  evening  meal,  and  two 
within  an  hour  of  retiring.  This  makes  eight  and  one- 
half  glasses ;  a  little  over  two  quarts.  Just  about 
enough  for  a  person  weighing  130  pounds.  Is  that 
much  of  a  task?  Take  it  part  hot  and  part  cold,  as 
you  like  it,  not  more  than  one  glass  at  a  time.  All 
hot  weakens  the  stomach.  This  will  work  wonders 
for  lots  of  people  if  they  do  nothing  more.  In  hot 
weather  more  will  be  required,  as  nuich  is  used  up  in 
evaporation  to  keep  the  body  cool. 

The  Law  of  Eating. 

"Blessed  art  thou  O  land,  when  thy  princes  eat  in 
due  season  for  strength  and  not  for  drunkenness."  We 
should  eat  to  live  and  not  live  to  eat.  And  yet  we 
ought  to  enjoy  our  food.  Human  appetite  is  more  or 
less  perverted  and  the  majority  of  men  crave  foods 
just  through  hal)it,  which  do  not  prove  either  by 
the  divine  ordinance  or  by  sane  experience  to  be  the 
best.  "And  God  said,  behold  I  have  given  you  every 
herb  bearing  seed  which  is  upon  the  face  of  all  the 
earth,  and  every  tree   in  which  is  the  fruit  of  a  tree 


THE  LAWS  OF  LIFE  51 

yielding  seed,  to  you  it  shall  be  for  meat."  Gen.  1 :29. 
This  was  the  primary  law  concerning  man's  food. 
There  is  little  doubt  among  the  advanced  hygienists 
that  foods  taken  first  hand  from  nature's  laboratory, 
grains,  fruits,  and  vegetables,  are  purer,  better,  more 
nourishing,  and  more  economical  than  flesh  foods, 
There  is  less  danger  of  disease  in  the  first  hand  prod- 
ucts. There  is  more  variety  and  satisfaction  once  the 
appetite  is  trained.  The  vegetarian  has  less  hunger 
and  cravings  than  the  flesh  eater.  He  has  more  mental 
clearness  and  quietness,  more  peace  and  less  worry 
and  anxiety.  The  blood  is  purer  with  less  disease 
germs  lurking  among  the  organs  of  the  body.  Those 
who  live  on  flesh  add  to  their  own  waste  poisons  the 
waste  poisons  of  the  animal  body.  These  toxic  ele- 
ments act  as  irritants  and  unduly  stimulate  the  animal 
passions,  beside  overworking  the  depurating  organs 
and  laying  the  foundation  for  serious  diseases  in  the 
body.  It  is  asserted  on  liigh  authority  that  every 
pound  of  beefsteak  contains  from  twelve  to  sixteen 
grains  of  uric  acid  which  is  the  great  cause  of  neural- 
gia, rheumatism,  eczema  and  asthma.  There  is  a  re- 
lationship existing  between  diseased  flesh  of  animals 
and  the  diseases  among  men.  Tuberculosis  in  milch 
cows  may  be  conveyed  to  weak  human  beings  in  the 
use  of  the  milk  and  appear  as  tuberculosis  of  the 
bowels  or  glands.  The  flesh  of  tuberculosis  cattle  will 
also  convey  the  disease.  The  writer  has  abstained 
Totally  from  eating  swine's  flesh  and  all  products  from 
it  for  forty-five  years  and  has  in  his  own  experience 
fully  proved  the  wisdom  of  the  word  of  God  which 
forbids  the  use  of  this  class  of  food,  (Lev.  11  :7,  8.)  and 
he  is  acquainted  with  thousands  of  others  who  have 


52  ESSENTIALS    TO    LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

had  a  similar  experience.  And  dnrinj^  all  these  years 
there  has  been  a  gradual  lessening  of  the  use  of  all 
forms  of  flesh  foods,  till  they  have  ceased  to  be  a 
necessity.  The  appetite  for  -  flesh  perishes  once  the 
mind  is  convinced  and  the  body  is  sup])lied  with  those 
things  like  whnle  grains  and  peas  and  beans  and  nuts 
which  contain  the  food  elements  needed  to  make  mus- 
cle. ncr\e  and  brain.  When  the  appetite  clamors  for 
flesh  eat  freely  those  things  which  supply  the  bodily 
wants  and  you  soon  fori^et  the  flesh.  Starches,  sugar, 
fruits  and  vegetables  will  not  furnish  muscle,  nerve, 
brain  and  bone-making  materials,  but  the  g^rains  and 
legumes  will,  and  then  the  craving  for  the  old  food 
ceases,  especially  if  the  judgment  is  already  convinced. 
Rice,  wheat,  barley,  oats,  rye.  corn  and  various  grains 
with  ])eas,  beans,  and  lentils  are  sufficient  to  meet  the 
wants  that  have  heretofore  been  supplied  with  flesh 
and  are  far  superior  in  every  way. 

Anc^ther  important  point  is  this:  flesh-eating"  pro- 
duces a  craving  for  strong  drink.  'Jliis  has  been  proved 
over  and  over  again.  The  one  sure  way  to  overcome 
the  ajipetite  for  strong"  drink  is  to  adopt  an  almost 
exclusive  grain,  fruit  and  vegetal)le  diet.  The  whole 
wdieat  ground  or  crushed  is  one  of  the  most  complete 
foods  when  made  uf)  into  dil^'erent  forms.  Milk  is  a 
good  diet  for  some  and  a  moderate  use  of  eggs  is 
not  \'et  to  be  condemned  in  most  cases.  There  is 
nK)re  liabilit}-  to  disease  in  milk  than  in  grain  foods. 
l\^  overcome  this  liability  milk,  before  using,  ought 
to  l)e  kcjit  at  a  temi)erature  a  little  below  the  boiling 
])()int  for  half  an  hour  soon  after  it  is  milked.  This 
is  so-called  Pasteurization.  (From  the  name  Pasteur, 
the  first  scientist  to  propose  and  demonstrate  this  way 


THE  LAWS  OF  LIFE  53 

of  treating  milk.)  Sterilization  is  accomplished  by 
boiling  for  some  time.  We  are  assured  by  high  au- 
thority that  milk  boiled  for  20  minutes  each  day  for 
three  days  in  succession  will  keep  indefinitely  if  sealed. 

A  certain  amount  of  cream,  butter,  or  clive  or  some 
other  pure  vegetable  oil  should  be  used  daily.  The 
most  objectionable  is  butter  which  is  really  unfit  to 
use  unless  made  from  sterilized  cream  or  milk.  This 
is  written  in  view  of  existing  conditions  in  general. 
There  is  no  safety  between  the  diseased  cows  and  the 
filthy  milking  and  handling  of  the  milk  only  in  steril- 
ization. For  the  milk  of  one  diseased  cow  or  one 
dirty  milker  or  a  filthy  milk  can  will  contaminate  the 
milk  of  a  whole  dairy.  Milk  i)asteurization  and  steril- 
ization has  in  the  last  few  years  lessened  the  infant 
mortality  fifty  per  cent  in  some  of  cur  eastern  cities. 
This  has  been  true  of  the  city  of  Rochester,  X.  Y.,  for 
the  last  thirteen  years.  Each  year  of  this  time  the 
infant  mortality-  has  been  only  one-half  as  great  as 
during  the  i)receding  years  when  no  precautions  were 
used. 

Hut  the  fact  still  remains  haxing  been  demonstra- 
ted at  the  I'niversity  of  Michigan,  that  a  perfectly 
healthy  cow  fed  on  pure  food  and  given  pure  water 
to  drink  gives  pure  milk.  The  experiment  was  tried 
of  milking  such  a  cow  in  a  clean  i)lace  into  sterilized 
glass  tubes.  These  were  stoppered  with  pledgets  of 
sterilized  cotton  and  taken  to  the  laboratory  where 
they  were  hermetically  sealed  by  melting  the  tops  to- 
gether with  a  blowpipe.  This  milk  ]>ut  up  in  this 
manner  without  heating  has  been  kcj)!  for  years  in  an 
ordinary  cool  place  and  was  still,  at  last  accounts,  in 
perfect  condition.    Those  dairy  men  who  i)roduce  purr 


54  ESSENTIALS    TO    LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

milk  from  healthy  cows  will  have  command  of  the 
situation  from  this  time  on.  There  is  a  murmuring 
against  cooking  the  milk  on  the  part  of  some  strong 
men  in  the  medicial  profession  and  there  is  probably 
some  ground  for  it,  for  there  can  be  no  doubt  that 
pure  unheated  milk  is  more  in  harmmiy  with  nature 
than  the  cooked  product. 

Every  one  must  choose  on  principle  for  himself 
what  particular  food  is  best  for  him.  We  shall  say 
more  fully  what  to  choose  in  some  cases  of  disease  in 
a  later  chapter. 

As  to  the  quantity  of  food,  this  varies  with  the  tem- 
perature and  with  the  business  one  is  engaged  in,  and 
Vv^ith  temperament  and  constitution  of  the  person.  It 
is  always  safe  to  be  moderate  in  the  manner  of  eating, 
chewing  faithfully  all  food  before  it  is  swallowed,  and 
never  should  anyone  eat  when  under  great  excitement, 
or  when  fretted  and  worried.  Jo}^  and  gladness  should 
be  the  accompaniment  of  every  meal.  Cheerful  so- 
ciety at  the  table  makes  plain  food  acceptable  to  the 
body.  Thanksgiving  to  God,  the  provider  of  all  gifts, 
coming  from  a  full  heart  is  a  splendid  prc|)aration  for 
the  work  of  digestion. 

The  variety  and  frequency  of  meals  is  a  matter  of 
great  importance.  Three  or  four  kinds  at  most  is  all 
that  should  be  taken  at  once.  Care  should  be  taken 
not  to  mix  fruits  and  vegetables  or  fruits  and  meats, 
at  the  same  meal.  Also  large  quantities  of  milk  and 
sugar  or  milk  and  meats.  Mixtures  lead  to  surfeiting, 
and  mental  stupor  follows.  Three  meals  a  day  is 
enough  for  anyone  in  any  circumstances  of  life,  except 
yoimg  children,  and  most  occupations  would  flourish 
as  well  en  two.    The  time  of  meals  is  a  matter  of  habit 


THE  LAWS  OF  LIFE  55 

and  convenience.  They  ought  always  to  be  five  or  six 
hours  apart,  and  the  last  one  not  less  than  four  hours 
before  retirin.s^.  In  some  diseased  conditions  it  often 
happens  that  just  a  few  mouthfuls  of  simple  food  at 
retiring  seems  to  induce  sleep,  Init  this  is  not  likely 
to  be  best  if  the  re.g'ular  evening-  meal  has  been  taken. 

The  Law  of  Exercise. 

There  is  no  better  exercise  for  mankind,  generally 
speaking,  than  that  which  is  required  for  producing 
the  necessities  of  life.  Agriculture  presents  great  op- 
portunities for  ]:)hysical  development  and  excellent 
chances  for  mental  training.  The  mechanism  of  the 
body  demands  motion.  Exercise  aids  the  circulation 
of  the  blood,  increases  breathing,  sets  the  digestive 
organis  into  operation,  clears  out  the  tissue  impurities, 
aids  in  buiUling  up  all  the  organs  and  helps  in  clearing 
the  mind  for  action.  Mental  activity  is  just  as  essen- 
tial t<i  health  as' physical  activity.  All  work  and  mere 
commonplace  thinking  unbalances  the  man,  leaving 
him  like  the  beast  of  burden  ;  and  all  thinking  and  lit- 
tle or  no  physical  employment  leads  to  early  decay  and 
dissolution,  and  sometimes  insanity. 

Enough  exercise  should  be  taken  daily  to  produce 
at  least  copious  perspiration  in  moderate  weather  and  a 
relative  amount  for  varying  temperatures.  Exercise 
raises  the  temperature  of  the  body.  Perspiration  car- 
ries ofif  the  surplus  heat,  and  at  the  same  time  gets 
rid  of  a  large  amount  of  waste  material.  l*!xercisc 
makes  the  blood  flow,  taking  away  worn  out  material, 
and  bringing  into  the  nniscles  new  building  material. 

Exercise  that  has  an  object  to  accomplish  is  worth 
twice  as  much  as  mere  physical  movements.     Moderate 


56  ESSENTIALS    TO    LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

exercise  is  conducive  to  sleep.  Jn  sickness  or  invalid- 
ism, massage,  a  passive  form  of  exercise  is  of  great 
value.  It  is  safe  to  say  that  life  depends  on  it  in  some 
cases.  Artificial  respiration,  which  is  massage  to  the 
diaphragm  and  chest  walls,  has  saved  inany  a  life  even 
after  the  heart  had  ceased  to  beat.  l)y  starting  the 
lungs  and  heart  again  into  action.  In  sprains  and 
bruises  massage  wisely  applied  at  once  may  save 
months  of  suffering,  by  promptly  restoring  the  circu- 
lation in  the  injured  parts.  Brain  workers  will  avoid 
many  of  their  grey  hairs  and  much  of  their  premature 
decay  by  a  little  timely  exercise  each  day.  There  is 
an  increase  of  moral  power  in  overcoming  the  tendency 
to  inertia.  The  real  love  of  physical  labor  is  no  mean 
virtue. 

The  Law  of  Rest. 

Nearly  all  i)eople  need  to  be  cautioned  about  worry- 
ing. Nine-tenths  of  all  human  ailments  are  due  di- 
rectly or  indirectly  to  this  and  other  mental  causes. 
Who  is  not  conscious  of  having  lost  his  appetite  and 
power  to  digest,  or  of  having  forgotten  to  breathe  and 
found  himself  indulging  in  long-drawn  sighs,  just  be- 
cause he  had  something  on  his  mind  which  was  caus- 
ing undue  pressure  or  anxiety.  And  who  has  net  spent 
sleepless  nights  with  his  own  troubled  mind  and  in  the 
morning  found  himself  no  nearer  the  solution  of  his 
troubles  than  the  night  before?  And  this  failure  to 
breathe  and  to  digest,  and  sleep,  is  enough  to  pave  the 
way  for  all  ills.  Just  keep  this  worry  going  year  after 
year  and  chronic  congestions  will  form  in  the  brain 
and  body  and  certain  nerves  and  muscles  may  be  kept 
on  a  strain  until  tumors  result.     Some  capable  physi- 


THE  LAWS  OF  LIFE  57 

cians  assert  that  this  is  so.  The  mill  that  grinds  (uit 
nothing'  soon  wears  itself  out.  Just  think  of  the 
amount  of  brain  wear  all  for  nothing.  If  the  trouble 
can  be  helped  help  it  and  quit.  If  it  can't  be  helped 
then  what  is  the  sense  in  grinding;  drop  it  and  do 
something  else.  The  writer  was  born  of  an  invalid 
mother  and  was  as  prone  to  worry  as  water  is  to  run 
down  hill.  At  the  age  of  forty-one  he  found  himself 
struggling  against  great  odds  in  the  financial  and  so- 
cial world  and  he  freely  confesses  to  having  carried 
fretting  to  a  wicked  extreme.  One  night  about  two 
in  the  morning  he  felt  a  sense  of  a  hand  being  laid  on 
his  shoulder  and  seemed  to  receive  a  shake  sufficient 
to  thoroughly  arouse  him.  He  unconsciously  assumed 
a  listening  attitude,  with  the  head  raised  in  part  from 
the  pillow.  Then  these  words  came  to  his  ears  in 
clean  cut  tones,  "What  is  worrying  anyway?"  The 
mental  effort  to  frame  an  answer  was  most  intense 
but  no  answer  would  formulate.  After  a  moment  the 
tension  relaxed  and  he  said  mentally,  "I  give  it  up, 
I  cannot  tell,"  instantly  in  the  same  clear  tones  came 
the  repl}-,  "Simply  feeling  bad  because  you  cannot 
have  your  own  way."  Reflection  caused  him  to  con- 
fess that  this  was  really  true;  that  he  had  laid  plans 
and  they  miscarried,  and  then  he  sat  down  and  wor- 
ried over  his  t)wn  failures.  It  was  a  lasting  lesson 
and  has  changed  his  whole  life. 

Resting  does  not  mean  idleness  alone.  It  means 
peace  and  inward  quietness  in  performing  the  neces- 
sary duties  of  life.  He  who  would  be  well  should 
save  the  useless  brain  and  nerve  wear  and  let  his 
strength  go  toward  performing  the  useful  things  of 
life. 


58  ESSENTIALS    TO    LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

Eight  hours  horizontal  repose  in  rest  or  sleep  is  a 
prime  necessity.  Insanity  is  in  many  cases  a  result 
of  worry  and  mental  perturbation  and  want  of  sleep. 
The  fluid  circulation  of  the  bod}-  grows  thick  and  the 
nerves  and  brain  become  irritable  and  life  is  wretched- 
ness both  for  the  individual  and  his  associates.  This 
failure  to  rest  is  a  symptom  of  mental  disease  which 
nothing  but  faith,  hope  and  trust  can  cure.  It  is  along 
this  line  that  so-called  divine  healers  are  scoring  their 
successes. 

God  has  made  it  a  law  of  nature  that  mental  rest 
and  hopefulness  and  courage  will  cure  the  maladies 
that  are  caused  by  mental  disturbances.  The  patient 
does  not  necessarily  have  to  be  told  to  exercise  faith 
or  have  confidence.  You  need  not  tell  him  you  are 
trying  to  change  his  mental  moods  and  divert  his  at- 
tention. You  had  better  keep  still  about  your  plans 
in  his  case  and  just  get  his  mind  on  something  else 
beside  his  old  troubles.  Being  a  law  of  nature  it  does 
not  matter  who  invokes  it,  whether  the  mind  centers 
its  hope  and  rest  on  God  the  Creator,  or  on  a  heathen 
joss,  or  on  the  assurances  of  the  family  physician,  or 
the  "absurd  formulas  of  a  professedly  divine  healer; 
the  temporary  physical  results  will  be  the  same  no 
matter  who  gets  the  credit.  The  occult  mysterious 
utterances  of  Christian  Science  denying  the  existence 
of  sin  and  the  judgment,  removes  from  the  mind  all 
sense  of  moral  responsibility  if  accepted,  thus  giving 
peace  within ;  the  promises  of  perfect  cure  beget  hope 
and  trust ;  the  mysterious  explanations  arouse  the  love 
of  the  marvelous  and  the  fervent  disciple  soon  forgets 
her  disappointments  and  troubles  and  sorrows  of  a 
few    months    before ;    the    physical    powers    rally    and 


THE  LAWS  OF   LIFE  59 

health  returns.  In  sonic  cases  orj^anic  diseases  which 
have  come  as  a  result  of  anxious  care  and  other  mental 
conditions  have  been  cured  by  this  system  of  mental 
denial  and  preoccupation.  It  is  a  fact  well  known  to 
almost  everybody  that  the  little  external  tumors  we 
call  warts  sometimes  disappear  almost  mysteriously 
without  anything^  whatever  being  done.  They  were 
there  one  day  and  a  few  days  after  they  are  gone. 
Sometimes  some  neighborhood  conjurer  "wdiispers" 
to  the  warts  and  sometimes  they  go  and  sometimes 
they  don't.  Physicians  are  fully  aware  of  the  fact 
that  some  internal  tumors  have  disappeared  when  no 
means  were  used  to  remove  them.  Perhaps  the  patient 
took  a  little  more  time  to  rest  or  might  have  relaxed 
the  tension  of  care  a  little  or  drank  a  little  more  water. 
The  human  body  has  in  it  wonderful  recuperative 
powers  when  freed  from  some  of  its  burdens. 

The  secret  of  all  mental  cures  is  diversion  of  the 
mind.  This  may  be  accomplished  through  a  restora- 
tion of  confidence,  or  drawing  out  the  sympathies  after 
some  case  of  suffering,  or  by  appeal  to  mysticism 
through  love  i  t  the  marvelous  in  some  cases,  or  by 
rousing  the  curiosity,  or  stimulating  one  to  mirthful- 
ness  through  an  appeal  to  the  ludicrous.  An  ocean  voy- 
age, or  a  trip  through  a  pleasant  part  of  the  country, 
all  these  things  sometimes  must  be  used. 

TTypnotism  also  presents  a  false  application  of  this 
law  of  rest.  It  requires  the  patient  to  surrender  his 
will,  his  self-control,  and  his  responsibility  to  the 
hypnotist.  This  is  more  than  the  (lod  of  heaven  ever 
asked.  TTc  asks  man  to  yield  liis  will  to  Ilim  and 
retain  his  self-control  and  his  responsibility,  having 
the  one  stremithened  an<l  the  other  increased. 


6()  ESSENTIALS    TO    LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

But  the  element  of  Spiritual  Rest,  that  is,  resting  in 
the  Creator  of  the  universe — is  the  sure  and  true  foun- 
dation both  of  this  life  and  of  the  life  to  conic. 

There  is  a  vast  difference  between  resting  in  God 
and  waiting  patiently  for  Him,  and  trusting  in  Him  to 
bring  all  things  to  pass,  and  that  He  will  "luring  forth 
our  righteousness  as  the  light  and  our  judgment  as  the 
noonday,  there  is  vast  difference  between  this  resting 
on  creative  power,  and  resting  in  the  assurances  of 
these  modern  substitutes.  There  is  the  difference  be- 
tween light  and  darkness,  between  satisfaction  and  dis- 
appointment, between  life  and  death.  When  this  rest 
enters  the  heart  the  way  is  opened  for  the  mighty 
workings  of  God's  power,  both  naturally  and  spirit- 
ually.. But  this  power  will  come  only  upon  those  who 
are  willing  to  deny  self  and  forsake  their  own  ways. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

Drugs,  Stimulants,  Narcotics  and  Patent 

Medicines. 

Having  said  this  much  concerning  those  principles 
which  show  how  we  ought  to  use  the  essentials  of  life, 
in  our  attempts  to  preserve  and  restore  health,  we  are 
prepared  to  go  forward  and  consider  something  with 
reference  to  the  use  of  a  class  of  remedies  that  have 
for  ages  been  quite  popular  among  different  nations. 
We  have  heard  much  talk  of  the  action  of  medicines 
and  the  curative  power  of  drugs.  We  will  consider 
how  the  body  acts  towards  the  medicines  and  stimu- 
lants, and  not  how  the  medicines  act  toward  the  body. 

Stimulation  is  an  increased  action  of  the  organs  of 
the  body.  We  wish  to  speak  first  of  harmful  stimula- 
tion and  its  opposite,  depression,  not  wishing  to  take 
the  space  here  to  consider  natural  stimulation.  A 
harmful  stimulant  is  any  substance  the  presence  of 
which  the  vital  organs  resent  and  engage  their  energies 
in  an  extra  effort  to  get  it  out  of  the  system  without 
the  stimulant  in  return  furnishing  any  energy  to  supply 
the  waste  sustained.  A  depressant  is  any  substance 
the  i)rescnce  of  which  in  the  body  causes  so  great  an 
eff()rt  on  the  part  of  the  nervous  system  in  its  effort 
to  protect  the  vital  forces  of  the  body  from  injury  that 
the  vitality  is  lowered  and  the  brain  and  ncrvotis  action 
is  hindered  and  a  degree  of  stupor  prtiduccd.     Tlu-  ai- 


62  ESSENTIALS    TO    LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

tion  of  the  man  which  leads  to  indulgence  in  those 
things  which  unnaturally  depress  or  stimulate  is  called 
intemperance.  We  may  be  permitted,  for  the  sake  of 
enlarging  the  field  of  thought,  to  define  intemperance 
from  another  point  of  view.  The  use  of  any  article 
which  will  create  an  api)etite  for  itself  is  an  act  of 
intemperance.  We  speak  of  these  things  here  because 
it  is  chiefly  these  classes  of  drugs  that  have  been  used 
as  medicines  and  it  is  due  almost  entirely  to  their  medi- 
cinal use  that  they  have  gotten  their  hold  on  the  race. 
There  may  be  such  a  case,  but  the  writer  never  knew 
a  morphine  or  cocaine  fiend  that  did  not  commence  the 
use  of  the  drug  medicinally.  The  same  is  true  of  many 
a  drunkard ;  it  was  the  medicinal  "bitters"  that  roused 
the  appetite  for  strong  drink.  It  is  the  false  notion  con- 
cerning the  use  of  these  drugs  as  medicines  that  has 
fixed  the  curse  of  liquor  and  opium  upon  civilization. 
The  drug  effect  of  tobacco  is  responsible  for  a  multi- 
tude of  the  modern  cases  of  intemperance.  The  de- 
pressing effect  of  tobacco  calls  for  a  corresponding- 
stimulant  to  reverse  the  action  of  the  nervous  system. 
It  was  Sir  Walter  Raleigh  who  recommended  the  use 
of  tobacco  to  his  English  fellow  citizens  as  a  cure  for 
a  certain  "vile  disease."  Perhaps  the  physicians  of  his 
time  were  more  to  blame  for  this  than  he.  It  is  still 
recommended  by  some  doctors  for  various  diseases. 

When  alcoholic  beverages  are  taken  it  is  but  a  short 
time  before  the  lungs  and  kidneys  begin  to  pour  it  out, 
and  a  strong  odor  of  alcohol  appears  in  the  breath  and 
urine.  The  nervous  system  sends  word  all  around  that 
an  extra  supply  of  fluid  is  needed  to  dilute  this  alcoholic 
enemy  so  that  he  can  be  driven  out  as  quickly  as  possi- 
ble.   So  the  washing  out  begins.    Generally  during  this 


STIMULANTS,  NARCOTICS  AND  MEDICINES       63 

process  a  feeling  of  exhilaration  pervades  the  entire 
body,  unless  so  large  a  quantity  is  taken  as  to  exhaust 
the  vital  energies  quickly,  then  depression  follows.  This 
feeling  of  exhilaration  is  not  strength  derived  from 
the  stimulant,  but  an  extra  manifestation  of  energy 
to  get  rid  of  the  drug.  This  false  notion  about  the  action 
of  stimulants  on  the  body  is  entirely  a  mistake.  It  is 
the  action  of  the  body  towards  the  drugs  of  whatever 
nature  that  produces  the  symptoms  we  see.  This  is 
true  of  everything  but  the  chemical  action  of  certain 
acids  and  alkalies  that  will  destroy  either  living  or  dead 
tissue  or  metallic  substances.  These  are  seldom  used 
internally.  Barring  this  chemical  action,  all  other 
symptoms  in  the  body  following  the  use  of  drugs  are 
due  to  the  living  vital  activity  of  the  body.  This  ex- 
plains fully  why  we  see  such  varying  results  when 
different  people  take  the  same  drugs  or  stimulants. 
Vital  resistance  varies;  some  can  endure  more  than 
others.  The  same  body  will  1)ecome  tolerant,  even  of 
poisons,  by  their  constant  use.  For  this  reason  drugs 
and  medicines  are  said  to  lose  their  effects.  The  body 
ceases  to  put  up  a  fight  against  them  ;  then  a  greater 
dose  is  required  before  the  energies  of  the  body  will 
take  notice  of  the  enemy.        * 

False  Education.  The  people  generally  have  been 
educated,  through  the  profession  to  some  extent,  but 
especially  by  the  influence  of  the  quack  medicine  ad- 
vertisements to  believe  that  medicines  cure.  lUit  the 
best  practioners  all  over  the  world  have  lost  their  con- 
fidence in  the  curative  powers  of  drugs.  They  believe 
in  germicides  and  antitoxins,  but  the  old  notion  that 
drugs  have  curative  power  in  the  human  body  is  quite 
well     exploded.      Germicides,    only   kill    germs.     The 


64  ESSENTIALS    TO    LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

power  in  the  body  cures.  The  statement  made  to  the 
writer  several  A'ears  ago  by  tlie  bacteriologist  of  a 
leading  medicial  university  is  the  sentiment  of  thou- 
sands of  other  medicial  men.  He  said,  '"T  have  only 
eight  or  ten  medicines  left  and  T  have  lost  confidence 
in  all  but  two  or  three  of  them." 

The  science  of  using  germicides  is  enlarging,  but 
the  practice  of  indiscriminate  drugging  is  on  the 
wane.  We  know  some  excellent  physicians  who 
never  give  a  drop  of  medicine  in  such  cases  as  Typhoid 
fever.  Pneumonia  and  Tuberculosis.  The  best  in- 
formed medical  men-  are  more  ready  to  leave  out  the 
use  of  drugs  generally  than  the  people  are  to  have  it 
flonc.  As  long  as  the  people  demand  medicines,  med- 
ical men  will  grant  them  their  desires.  If  they  do  not 
the  patients  will  find  some  other  doctor  who  will  sat- 
isfy their  minds  with  drugs.  When  the  people  get 
their  eyes  open  they  will  seek  help  from  those  physi- 
cians and  institutions  which  arc  devoted  to  the  use 
of  natural  means,  win;  are  teaching  the  people  what 
natural  law  is  and  how  to  obey  it. 

The  temperance  cause  is  weak,  because  people  and 
teachers  keep  on  ascribing  power  and  action  to  the 
stinnilants  and  narcotics.  ( )ne  who  is  strong  says 
''They  don't  hurt  me ;"  another  says,  "They  don't  afTect 
me  that  way":  while  the  man  with  less  vital  resist- 
ance is  laid  out  flat  ;  and  the  next  time  he  plans  not  to 
take  (|uite  so  nuich.  but  before  he  is  aware  his  Ixidily 
resistance  is  o\er\\  helmed  and  lie  is  laid  out  again. 
If  all  could  be  made  to  know  that  there  is  neither  life, 
nor  fi  M  ](i  iKir  sustenance  in  stimulants,  not  e\'en  in 
wine  or  beer  or  tea  or  coffee;  an<l  that  whether  they 
are    fullv    laid    out     like    the     othu.r    one   or   not.    thev 


STIMULANTS,  NARCOTICS  AND  MEDICINES       65 

arc  wasting  their  life  energies  needlessly,  foolishly 
yea  wickedly,  they  would  never  enter  n])oil  the  use 
of  tobacco,  liquor,  opium,  or  even  beer,  or  tea  and 
coffee.  These  things  never  add  anything  to  the  last- 
ing comfort  or  well-being  of  the  body.  They  may 
satisfy  unnatural  and  depraved  appetites,  but  they 
pave  the  way  for  future  distress  and  disasters. 

A  few  days  since  the  writer  was  saying  to  a  veteran 
smoker  that  he  had  asked  hundreds  of  tobacco, users 
if  they  could  sincerely  advise  a  young  man  to  begin 
its  use  and  that  of  all  these  hundreds  only  one,  had 
given  an  affirmative  reply.  He  had  had  so  much  com- 
fort in  smoking  and  chewing  that  he  really  thought  it 
would  pay  a  man  to  begin.  "Well."  replied  the  old 
veteran,  "he  was  a  fool." 

The  man  just  fresh  from  the  fray,  just  sobering 
up,  is  always  abundantly  repentant.  If  a  man  delib- 
erately wants  to  waste  his  life  and  energies  and  his 
time  and  substance,  there  is  n<»  i)ower  in  the  universe 
that  ean  sa\e  him.  To  have  spent  life  in  such  a  man- 
ner seems  most  inglorious.  There  is  something  better 
to  live  for  than  the  gratification  of  either  a  depraved, 
hereditary,  or  acquired  appetite.  Some  people  can 
endure  such  abuses  longer  than  others,  because  they 
are  constitutionally  stronger  and  have  vital  power  to 
use  in  taking  care  of  these  poisons.  This  accounts 
for  some  living  to  be  quite  old  while  practicing  intem- 
perance. r>ut  does  it  pay  to  waste  human  energy  on 
such  filthy,  dcl)asing  habits?  ^'ou  would  not  use  your 
best  horse  or  cow  that  way.  ^'ou  give  them  pure  food 
and  water.  Why  not  treat  yourself  as  well?'  Take 
the  whoK-  tr.-.nsaction  of  a  debauch  into  account;  and 
is  there  any  pleasure  in  it?      Put   the  fini>h  alongside 


66  ESSENTIALS    TO    UFE    AND    HEALTH 

of  the  start  and  then  where  is  the  comfort  and  fun 
and  profit?     Badly  mixed,  don't  you  think  so? 

The  one  who  indulges  his  taste  for  any  stimulants 
even  tea  and  coffee  sacrifices  life  and  comfort  and 
peace  and  rest  and  joy,  and  in  some  cases  his  self- 
respect  for  a  momentary  gratification  of  taste,  and  a 
temporary  exhilaration ;  and  through  over  exhaustion 
of  nerve  and  tissue  energies,  opens  the  way  for  every 
form  of  dyspepsia  and  nervous  disorder  and  unfits 
himself  for  the  nobler  employments  of  existence.  It 
is  the  specific  poisons  which  these  articles  contain 
which  is  the  cause  of  the  damage  to  the  body.  They 
contain  no  nutriment,  they  add  nothing  to  the  vital 
store,  but  the  body  wastes  its  precious  energies  in 
disposing  of  them.  The  sense  of  exhilaration  which 
follows  the  use  of  stimulants  is  produced  at  the  ex- 
pense of  the  future.  The  reaction  is  sure.  Sullen- 
ness,  morosity,  impatience,  weariness  and  exhaustion 
follow  every  marked  violation  of  natural  law.  The 
woman  who  does  a  hard  day's  work  on  a  pot  of  tea 
has  used  up  life  energy  which  she  can  never  recover. 
It  costs  more  for  the  body  to  dispose  of  the  tea  than 
to  do  the  work  if  the  nerves  were  free  from  the  slavery 
of  the  stimulant. 

The  more  nearly  one  lives  in  harmony  with  natural 
law  the  more  sensitive  will  the  body  become  to  the 
presence  of  poisons  in  the  vital  domain.  Let  the 
one  unaccustomed  to  flesh  and  tea  and  coflfee  take  an 
ordinary  evening  meal  of  flesh  foods  with  a  strong 
cup  of  either  beverage  and  he  will  have  a  restless 
disturbed  night  and  rise  in  the  morning  with  a  sense 
of  trouble  in  the  stomach.  He  has  taken  suf!icient 
poison   to   rouse   the    vital   resistance  of   his   nervoufe 


STIMULANTS,  NARCOTICS  AND  MEDICINES  "    67 

system  and  has  experienced  the  results.  With  another 
accustomed  to  these  thing-.s  the  body  has  become  toler- 
ant of  the  poisons  and  no  noticeable  disturbance  fol- 
lows, but  he  is  none  the  less  surely  using  up  vitality 
tmnecessarily  and  undermining  the  foundations  of  vi- 
tality. Feed  a  nest  of  kittens  or  young  puppies  freely 
on  the  best  meat  and  they  will  be  all  dead  or  at  least 
will  have  fits  before  the  day  goes  round.  And  they 
are  carnivorous  animals. 

It  is  safe  to  say  that  about  one-half  the  energy  of 
mankind  is  being  used  up  in  this  self-imposed  battle 
with  poisons,  just  because  of  the  misguided  notions 
and  fancies  of  humanity.  The  majority  would  soon 
be  free  if  they  would  follow  their  better  judgment. 
But  appetite  stands  in  the  way  and  appetite  is  a  habit 
which  begins  in  the  nerves  of  the  upper  part  of  the 
alimentary  canal  and  brain,  and  extends  to  every  tissue 
cell  in  the  entire  body.  The  whole  man  becomes  en- 
slaved. 

If  one  would  be  free  from  the  grosser  forms  of  in- 
dulgence let  him  begin  with  his  table  habits.  First 
leave  out  the  free  use  of  flesh  in  g-eneral,  especially 
smoked  meats,  then  pepper,  mustard,  vinegar  and  other 
condiments,  and  large  quantities  of  salt.  Take  the 
"little  foxes"  first.  He  that  is  temperate  in  the  little 
things  will  be  temperate  in  the  greater.  Fifty  years 
of  diligent  search  does  not  reveal  the  case  of  a  single 
vegetarian  who  has  become  a  drunkard,  and  the  writer 
has  never  known  but  two  drunkards  who  were  not 
first  addicted  to  tobacco.  Habits  of  taste  formed  by 
the  use  of  highly  seasoned  foods  and  meats  clamor  for 
something  a  little  stronger  that  will  "just  touch  the 
spot."      Furc    water   hot   or   cold    drank    freely,   helps 


68  ■         ESSENTIALS    TO    LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

womlerfully  in  conquering  these  feverisli  intemperate 
appetites.  Good  ripened  fresli  fniit  is  also  cooling  to 
the  taste.  \Mieat  meal  or  oatmeal  and  all  the  entire 
grain  foods  which  help  to  regulate  the  action  of* 
stomach  and  bowels  serve  an  excelletit  purpose  in  help- 
mg  to  balance  up  the  inner  man. 

But  the  way  to  Freetown  is  at  last  by  Self-denial 
Cross  Roads  up  Resolution  Lane  and  it  is  a  straight 
and  narrow  way.  And  there  is  libert}'  and  enjoyment 
in  that  town  as  thousands  in  the  years  gone  h}'  have 
learned  by  happy  experience.  The  t(  \vn  is  located  on 
an  eminence  overlooking  the  most  of  the  world.  It  is 
a  pretty  safe  place  to  live  and  the  cost  of  living  does 
not  compare  with  the  cost  of  slavery  and  bondage  in 
the  lowlands.  Full  provision  is  made  for  the  enter- 
tainment and  residence  of  all  who  have  come  up  Reso- 
lution Lane.  There  are  a  lot  of  nice  people  in  town, 
and  I  am  impressed  that  there  will  be  a  lot  more  up 
from  the  lowlands,  as  soon  as  it  dawns  on  them  that 
conditions  of  life  are  so  much  more  enjoyable  uj)  above 
those  dreaded  Cross  Roads.  T  like  it  up  here  pretty 
well,  myself.  T  think  you  would  like  it  too.  I  have 
never  known  anyone  to  die  from  hardship  on  the  road 
uj).  You  will  find  a  lot  of  good  people  on  the  way 
up.  slowly,  but  surely,  climbing  the  heights.  Won't 
you  reader,  try  the  trip  too?  A  hearty  welcome  awaits 
you.  And  best  of  all  that  spirit  of  creative  power,  the 
Spirit  of  God,  has  promised  to  come  to  the  help  of 
evervonc  who  opens  his  heart  to  recei\c  it,  and  reso- 
lutely starts  out  to  make  the  rise.  Success  to  you, 
reader,  in  your  battle  against  drugs,  stimulants  and 
narcotics  in  all  their  forms. 


STIMULANTS,  NARCOTICS  AND  MEDICINES       69 

Opinions  of  Medical  Men. 

The  following  opinions  of  eminent  medical  men 
quoted  from  "Home  Hand-Book  of  Domestic  Hygiene 
and  Rational  Medicine,"  and  from  an  old  volume  "How 
to  Live,"  will  help  the  reader  to  appreciate  the  force 
of  our  remarks  on  Drugs  and  Medicines. 

Dr.  Jacob  Bigelow,  President  of  the  American 
Academy  of  Arts  and  Sciences,  in  one  of  his  published 
works  stated  that  "the  unbiased  opinion  of  most  med- 
ical men  of  sound  judgment  and  long  experience  is 
made  up  that  the  amount  of  death  and  disaster  in  the 
world  would  be  less  if  all  diseases  were  left  to  them- 
selves than  it  now  is  under  the  multiform,  reckless, 
and  contradictory  modes  of  practice,  good  and  bad, 
with  which  practitioners  of  diverse  denominations 
carry  nu  their  differences,  at  the  expense  of  their  pa- 
tients." 

Sir  John  Forbes,  M.  D.,  F.  R.  S.,  said,  "Some  pa- 
tients get  well  with  the  aid  of  medicines,  more  with- 
out it,  and  still  more  in  spite  of  it." 

In  the  Dublin  Medical  Journal  occur  these  words, 
"Assuredly  the  uncertain  and  most  unsatisfactory  art 
that  we  call  medical  science  is  no  science  at  all,  but  a 
jumble  of  inconsistent  opinions,  of  conclusions  hastily 
and  often  incorrectly  drawn,  of  facts  misunderstood  or 
perverted,  of  comparisons  without  analogy,  of  hypoth- 
eses without  reason,  and  of  theories  not  only  useless 
but  dangerous." 

Dr.  Bostwick,  author  of  the  "History  of  Medicine," 
said,  "Every  dose  of  medicine  given  is  a  blind  experi- 
ment on  the  vitality  of  the  patient." 

The  editor  of  the  Medico-chirurgical  Review,  James 
Johnson,  M.  D.,  F.  R.  S.,  says,  "I  declare  as  my  con- 


70  ESSENTIALS  TO  LIFE  AND   HEALTH 

scientious  conviction,  founded  on  long  experience  and 
reflection,  that  if  there  was  not  a  single  physician,  sur- 
geon, man-midwife,  chemist,  apothecary,  druggist,  nor 
drug,  on  the  face  of  the  earth,  there  would  be  less  sick- 
ness and  less  mortality  than  now  prevail." 

Prof.  J.  W.  Carson  of  the  New  York  College  of 
Physicians  and  Surgeons,  declares,  "We  do  not  know 
whether  our  patients  recover  because  we  give  them 
medicine  or  because  nature  cures  them.  Perhaps 
bread-pills  would  cure  as  many  as  medicine."  Con- 
cerning giving  medicine  to  infants  he  said,  "It  is  easy 
to  destroy  the  life  of  an  infant.  This  you  will  find 
when  you  enter  practice.  You  will  find  that  a  slight 
scratch  of  the  pen,  which  dictates  a  little  too  much  of 
a  remedy,  will  snuff  out  the  infant's  life ;  and  when  you 
next  visit  your  patient,  you  will  find  that  the  child 
which  you  left  cheerful  a  few  hours  previously,  is  stiff 
and  cold.    Beware,  then,  how  you  use  your  remedies!" 

And  Dr.  Alonzo  Clark,  another  professor  in  the 
same  college,  also  declares  that.  "All  of  our  curative 
agents  are  poisons,  and,  as  a  consequence,  every  dose 
diminishes  the  patient's  vitality,"  and  that  "in  their 
zeal  to  do  good,  physicians  have  done  much  harm; 
they  have  hurried  many  to  the  grave  wht)  would  have 
recovered  if  left  to  nature." 

Professor  Martin  Paine,  of  the  New  ^Ork  University 
Medical  College,  and  Professor  Liebig,  the  German 
chemist,  agree  that  "drug  medicines  do  but  cure  one 
disease  by  producing  another." 

Alex.  H.  Stephens,  M.  D..  of  the  New  York  College 
of .  Physicians  and  Surgeons,  testifies  in  a  lecture  to 
the  medical  class :  "The  older  physicians  grow,  the 
more  .skeptical  they  become  of  the  virtues  of  medicine, 


STIMULANTS,  NARCOTICS  AND  MEDICINES      71 

and  the  more  they  are  disposed  to  trust  to  the  powers 
of  nature."  And  aj^ain :  "The  reason  medicine  has  ad- 
vanced so  slowly,  is  because  physicians  have  studied 
the  writings  of  their  predecessors,  instead  of  nature." 

Prof.  Jos.  M.  Smith,  M.  D.,  of  the  same  school  says, 
"All  medicines  which  enter  the  circulation,  poison  the 
blood  in  the  same  manner  as  do  the  poisons  that  pro- 
duce disease."  Again :  "Drugs  do  not  cure  disease ; 
disease  is  always  cured  by  the  vis  medicatrix  naturae." 
(The  healing  power  of  the  body.) 

Prof.  B.  F.  P>arker,  M.  D.,  said:  "The  drugs  which 
are  administered  for  the  cure  of  scarlet  fever  and 
measles,  kill  far  more  than  those  diseases  do.  I  have 
recently  given  no  medicine  in  their  treatment,  and  have 
had  excellent  success." 

"I  have  no  faith  whatever  in  medicine." — Dr.  Bailie, 
of  London. 

"The  medical  practice  of  our  day  is,  at  best,  a  most 
uncertain  and  unsatisfactory  system ;  it  has  neither 
])hilosophy  nor  common  sense  to  commend  it  to  con- 
fidence."— Professor  Evans.  Fellow  of  the  Royal  Col- 
lege, Pondon. 

"Gentlemen,  ninety-nine  out  of  every  hundred  med- 
ical facts  are  medical  lies;  and  medical  doctrines  are. 
for  the  most  part,  stark,  staring  nonsense." — Professor 
Gregory,  of  Edinburgh,  Scotland. 

These  quotations  are  from  the  medical  men  of  nearly 
a  generation  ago.  The  last  thirty  years  have  seen  great 
advancement  toward  natural  methods.  But  many  still 
cling  to  strychnine  and  other  poisons  and  medicines 
because  it  is  easier  to  dope  out  pills  and  pellets  and 
powders  than  to  practice  sanitarium  treatments,  and 
because  the  people  still  demand  drugs.    The  best  mcd- 


72  ESSENTIALS  TO  LIFE  AND    HEALTH 

ical  men  now  ,^et  their  very  sick  patients  int()  the 
hospital  or  a  sanitarium  or  secure  a  trained  nurse  so 
that  more  rational  methods  are  prevailing".  This  has 
come  about  largely  through  the  influence  of  a  few 
earnest  workers  who  have  taught  the  people  to  de- 
mand better  methods. 

We  greatly  desire  the  reader  to  follow  on  carefully 
and  learn  all  he  can  for  himself  of  the  use  of  natural 
means  and  thus  get  his  mind  disabused  more  fully  of 
the  notion  that  drugs  cure. 

Their  use,  it  is  true,  does  have  a  salutary  effect  on 
the  mind  of  the  patient  who  feels  such  a  confidence  in 
the  remedy  swallowed  as  to  make  him  forget  his  little 
troubles  and  come  to  a  point  of  rest.  Many  a  wise 
old  physician  has  fed  his  patients  bread  pills  or  doc- 
tored them  with  colored  water  and  kept  them  quiet 
a  few  days,  when  he  knew  all  they  needed  was  rest 
and  assurance. 

Patent  Medicines. 

The  writers  of  Patent  Medicine  ad's  seem  to  be 
possessed  of  a  peculiar  inspiration.  The  average  af- 
flicted reader,  as  soon  as  she  begins  to  read  the  long 
list  of  symptoms,  begins  to  feel  the  symptoms  in  her 
own  body.  If  she  is  not  at  the  moment  experiencing 
the  sensations  pictured  she  remembers  having  them 
a  few  days  since.  And  there  is  such  a  satisfaction  to 
the  chronic  invalid  in  reading  literature  that  so  per- 
fectly pictures  one's  own  feelings.  At  once  a  bond 
of  sympathy,  through  confidence  gained,  springs  up 
between  the  afflicted  soul  and  the  concern  that  is  of- 
fering the  remedy.  It  is  such  a  satisfaction  to  the  af- 
flicted mind  to  find  someone  or  something  that  knows 


STIMULANTS,  NARCOTICS  AND  MEDICINES       73 

how   to   appreciate   physical   sufferings,   for   such    the 
multitudious  symptoms  do  become.     And  then  begins 
the  craving"  for  the   remedy,   which,   confidence   says, 
is  so  perfectly  adapted  to  such  cases.     Such  a  con- 
fidence  and   sympathy   is  begotten  between  the  poor 
sufferer  and  the  newly  found  philanthropist  ( ?)  as  al- 
most for  the  time  out-rivals  Christian  experience.  Then 
comes  the  trial  of  the  medicine,  the  first  six  bottles 
for   five  dollars.     The   confidence  and   trust  begotten 
I)y  the  advertisement  ought  to,  and  does  do  much  to 
quiet  the  mind.     The  hope  of  relief  brings  some  rest 
to  the  troubled  soul  and  works  relief.    The  same  con- 
fidence   established    in    a    hygienic    procedure    would 
result  in  lasting  good.     Perhaps  the  medicine  acts  as 
a  cathartic,  they  most  all  do.     Of  course   there   is  a 
temporary  relief  for  some  of  the  bad  symptoms.  Quite 
likely  there  is  a  large  portion  of  alcoholic  stimulants 
in  ihe  newly  purchased  remedy.     If  so  the  invalid  will 
know  at  once  that  "it  docs  do  me  good"  by  his  own 
experience.     If  there  are  a  few  hygienic  suggestions 
in  the  patent  medicine  literature,  and  quite  generally 
nowadays  there  are,  and  the  invalid  can  be  induced  to 
follow    one    or    two    of    these    suggestions    good    will 
result   to  the   patient   and   the   medicine   will   get   the 
credit.     It  is  the  fashion  in  our  times  to  float  Patent 
Medicines  on  a  few^  slabs  of  hygienic  truth.     If  only 
once  the  people's  minds  could  be  cleared  of  the  idea 
that  medicines  cure,  it  would  be  the  end  of  this  w*hole 
business.     The  patent  medicine  man  gets  up  a  first- 
class  almanac  calendar  for  the  year,  filling  it  with  his 
philanthropic    posings,    in    which    he    would    have    it 
strongly  impressed  that  he  is  a  public  benefactor,  that 
all    his   efforts   are    inspired    by    di'^interested   love   of 


74  ESSENTIALS  TO  LIFE  AND    HEALTH 

humanity.  This  farce  is  kept  up  for  long  years  after 
the  original  proprietor  is  dead,  as  is  now  the  case  with 
one  noted  line  of  remedies.  The  name  of  the  old  lady, 
dead  and  buried  several  years  ago,  is  still  used  as  a 
bait  to  induce  confiding  females  to  unbosom  their  pri- 
vate troubles  for  free  advice  and  their  letters  are  now 
opened  and  answered  by  the  mercenary  chap  who  be- 
came the  legal  business  successor  to  the  original  pro- 
prietor. There  is  no  love  of  mankind  in  the  whole 
line  of  business.  It  is  an  effort  to  exploit  suffering 
weak  humanity  for  the  money  that  can  be  gained  by 
the  scheme.  We  have  no  hesitation  in  saying  that 
whoever  adopts  the  patent  medicine  methods,  whether 
he  be  a  food  promoter  or  a  sanitarium  manager,  and 
works  from  the  same  mercenary  motives  is  worthy 
of  no  more  confidence  or  patronage  than  the  veriest 
quack.  When  foods,  no  matter  how  good  they  are, 
thai  cost  three  or  four  cents  to  manufacture  are  sold 
for  fifteen  or  twenty  cents  and  the  effort  is  heroically 
kept  up  to  produce  an  idea  in  the  minds  of  the  people 
that  nothing  else  will  meet  the  demands  of  nature, 
we  say  unhesitatingly  that  this  is  mercenary  quackery 
and  a  few  years  only  will  suffice  to  develop  the  truth 
fully  to  the  people.  Let  the  people  be  taught  what  it 
truly  means  to  come  back  to  nature,  and  quackery  in 
all  its  forms  will  become,  for  want  of  patronage,  a 
thing  of  the  past. 

Many  patent  medicines  and  other  quackish  articles 
owe  their  success  to  the  euphonious  names  under 
which  they  are  paraded  before  a  sentimental  public. 
The  smooth  fluent  mysterious  jingle  of  the  name  of 
some  "newly  discovered,"  "far  fetched,"  "hitherto  un- 
known," "Hindoo,"  "Egyptian"  or  "Indian"  remedy  is 


STIMULANTS,  NARCOTICS  AND  MEDICINES       75 

generally    about    the    best    recommendation    that    the 
medicine  has. 

Men  and  women  need  more  L,'ood  hard  sense  and 
less  sentimentalism.  nu)re  caution  and  less  credulity, 
more  trust  in  nature  and  less  confidence  in  the  lying 
pretensions  of  mercenary  quacks  or  any  other  class  of 
pretenders. 

A  TESTIMONIAL. 

By  Wallace  Irwin,  in  Collier's  Weekly. 


I 


THOUGHT  tliat  my  health  was  as  good  as  the  next. 
But  learned   it  was  terribly  bad; 
For  I  found,  after  readinj:j  the  newspaper  text 

Of  a  loud  patent-medicine  ad. 
That  mushrooms  were  growing  all  over  my  liver. 

That  something  was  loose  in  my  heart. 
'I'liat  line  to  my  sjileen  all  my  ner\'es  had  turned  green 

And  my  lungs  were  not  doing  their  part. 
I  wrote  Dr.  Sharko  and  got  as  an  answer, 
"The  wart  on  your  thumb  is  incipient  cancer." 

I've  taken  Ze-ru-na  for  forty-nine  days, 

And  Scamp  Hark,  my  symptoms  to  gag; 
And  isn't  it  queer — all  my  pains  disappear 

When  the  medicine  gives  me  a  jagl 
A  ''lovely  sensation'"  I  get  from  them  all 

Which  banishes  carking  annoy. 
So   gayly  T  drink    'em — and  Lydia   Pinkum 

Has  added   her   quota   of  joy. 
.\nd  I've  sent  Dr.  Bogie  a  neat   little  sum 
For  "radium  tests"  on  the  wart  on   my  thumb. 

When  Baby   is  restless  a   bottle   T  keep 

Of  Ma    Winslow's  Syrup.      It    takes 
.\  spoonful   of  poison  to  put   him  to  sleep 

And  another  one  when  he  awakes; 
He  lies  in  a  paralyzed,  hypnotized  state. 

So  calm  you  can  see  at  a  glance 
That   the   dear  little   chick    sleeps   as   sound   as    a    brick 

When   he's  neatly   laid   out    in   a   trance; 
.\nd  I'm  sure  every  ilother  could  learn,  if  she  would 
Tliie  knock-out-drop  method  to  keep  Raby  good. 


76  ESSENTIALS    TO    LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

While  reading  bii^jlit  essays  on  "wonderful  cures'' 

In  decent  nevvsi)a|)ers  each  day 
I  see  all  ilie  symptoms  our  tired  flesli   onduies 

And  fly  to  my  drugs  in  dismay. 
I've  Snydrozone,  Fakeozone  stocked  on   mv  shelf 

With 'Horner's  Safe  Waters  of  Life: 
I'm   taking  three-fourths  of   the   tipple   myself 

And  giving  the  rest  to  my  Wife — - 
And  if  there  is  anything  left  after  that 
I  give  it  to  Adniiial  Togo,  the  cat. 

So   this  Testimonial  I   would   indorse 

To  give  all  Poor  Sufferers  hope. 
Much  pain  I've  endured,  but  I'm  "Positive  Cured" — 

So  long  as  I'm  taking  the  dope. 
The  baby  has  spasms,  my  Wife's  throwing  fits, 

And  I'm  feeling  fuzzy  and  bad — 
For  I  feel  we've  amassed  all  the  symptoms  at  last 

Which  yon  read  in   the   medicine   ad. 
The  Ready-made  Cure  and  the  Angels  who  make  it 
Thus  comfort   and  liless  the    poor  Clu-nnics  who  take  it  I 


CHAPTER  V. 
Gifts  of  Healings  and  Miracles, 

Gifts  of  Healings.  Before  proceeding  in  the  next 
chapter  tu  the  consideration  of  disease  and  its  causes, 
and  the  proper  treatment  b}-  means  of  the  principles 
already  set  forth,  we  desire  to  place  before  the  reader 
the  method  which  the  Heavenly  Father  has  set  forth 
in  His  word,  of  dealing  with  all  the  necessities  of  His 
people.  In  I  Cor.  12,  is  stated  the  doctrine  of  those 
gifts  with  which  the  Creator  endows  those  of  His 
creatures  who  seek  to  know  Him  and  walk  in  His 
ways.  The  whole  chapter  is  given  to  the  subject.  In 
verse  28  the  apostle  says,  "God  hath  set  some  in  the 
cluirch,  tirst  apostles,  secondaril\-  prophets,  thirdly 
teachers,  after  that  miracles,  then  gifts  of  healings, 
helps,  governments,  etc."  The  same  writer  in  Eph.  4, 
says,  "He  gave  some  apostles  and  some  prophets,  and 
some  evangelists,  and  some  pastors  and  teachers."  It 
is  sufficient  for  illustration  to  call  attention  to  some 
of  these  inspired  natural  talents.  The  pastor  is  one 
who  is  naturally  a  shepherd  and  the  teacher  one  who 
is  naturally  gifted  for  teaching  and  the  helps  and  gov- 
crnnunts  are  of  the  same  class.  "The  Word  of  Wis- 
dom" and  the  "word  of  knowledge"  and  the  gift  of 
faith"  (see  I  Cor.  12:8,  9),  are  to  men  who  arc  natur- 
ally fitted  to  exercise  these  gifts.  "To  him  that  hath 
shall  be  oiven."  "He  who  giveth  to  all  men  liberally" 


78  ESSENTIALS    TO    LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

"divides"  to  every  man  "according  to  his  several  abil- 
ity." 

The  statement  of  Daniel,  the  prophet,  "He  giveth 
wisdom  unto  the  wise,  and  knowledge  to  them  that 
know  understanding,"  Dan.  2:21,  completely  illustrates 
the  basis  on  which  God  gifts  men.  He  gives  to  them 
that  have.  According  to  the  natural  and  acquired 
ability  He  bestows  spiritual  helps.  So  in  the  gifts 
of  healings,  those  who  have  natural  and  acquired  abil- 
ity in  caring  for  the  health  of  the  people  will  receive, 
if  connected  with  God,  a  full  special  endowment  of 
Divine  grace  and  aid  in  the  use  of  heaven's  own  ap- 
pointed remedies,  and  these  workers  must  get  their 
credentials  from  the  great  Healer,  who  is  no  respecter 
of  persons,  even  tho,  like  Moses,  Daniel,  or  Paul, 
they  may  have  been  schooled  in  the  greatest  institu- 
tions of  human  learning.  In  this  perverted  world 
there  is  as  much  need  of  divine  enlightenment  in  the 
diagnosis  of  disease  and  the  application  of  natural 
remedies  as  in  the  gift  of  the  "Word  of  Wisdom"  and 
its  application  to  all  the  outward  relationships  of  life ; 
and  many  an  ungodly  physician  feels  this  need  though 
he  may  not  acknowledge  it. 

All  healing  accomplished  through  natural  law  is 
natural  healing  even  though  God  ordained  the  Laws 
of  Nature  and  sometimes  aids  men  in  the  work  of 
healing;  and  (iod's  worst  enemy  can  use  natural  law 
in  healing  disease,  but  this  would  not  be  divine  heal- 
ing. The  divine  element  appears  in  the  working  of 
miracles  which,  through  the  direct  power  of  God, 
transcend  natural  law. 

The  very  things  which,  properly  used,  will  preserve 
life,  will  also,  if  skillfully  used,  enable  the  sick  to  re- 


GIFTS  OF  HEATvINGS  AND  MIRACLES  79 

cover.  God  has  not  left  His  people  helpless  under  the 
power  of  disease.  His  word  contains  a  fund  of  instruc- 
tion. He  teaches  them  the  way  of  life  and  more  than 
that,  gifts  men  with  power  in  the  things  of  life.  We 
have  no  hesitation  in  saying  that  these  seven  things 
on  which  life  depends  are  as  much  the  things  of  God 
as  is  life  itself,  and  that  the  Gifts  of  Healings  are  the 
especial  endowment  of  wisdom  from  the  Spirit  of  God 
in  the  use  of  these  natural  means  in  restoring  the  sick. 
The  Law  of  Rest  as  a  natural  means  in  the  healing 
of  the  sick  involves  the  cure  of  nine-tenths  of  all  hu- 
man ailments  through  the  restoration  of  peace,  joy  and 
quietness  in  the  mind  by  bringing  in  a  state  of  confi- 
dence and  trust  into  the  soul.  This  kind  of  work  is 
not  divine  healing,  in  the  high  sense  of  that  term,  it  is 
only  a  natural  application  of  the  Law  of  Rest.  If  it 
be  divine  then  the  devil  and  wicked  men  can  become 
divine  healers.  But  it  requires  more  than  human  skill 
to  deal  with  some  natural  mental  causes  and  here 
appears  fully  the  necessity  for  the  "gifts"  of  healings. 

Miraculous  Healing. 

Some  anxious,  earnest  Christians  are  longing  for 
a  manifestation  of  miracles.  Others  ignore  them 
and  deny  their  existence  today.  What  is  a  mira- 
cle? It  may  be  a  suspension  of  natural  law;  as  when 
the  Red  Sea  was  walled  up  for  Israel  to  pass  thru. 
It  may  be  an  acceleration  of  natural  law,  as  at  Cana 
when  water  was  changed  to  wine.  It  may  be  a  direct 
act  of  creative  power,  as  when  the  loaves  and  fishes 
were  multiplied  in  the  Master's  hands  to  feed  the  mul- 
titude. It  may  be  a  lifting  of  the  curse  for  the  viola- 
tion of  natural  law,  as  in   the  cure  of  leprosy,  palsy 


80  ESSENTIALS  TO  LIFE  AND    HEALTH 

or  fever  or  the  removal  of  the  effects  of  other  diseases. 
If  the  reader  has  taken  note,  in  reading  the  Bible  rec- 
ord, he  has  observed  that  nearly  all  of  the  miracles 
of  healing-  were  performed  on  what  we  generally  con- 
sider to  be  hopeless  cases.  In  those  cases  where 
natural  means  are  sufficient  to  eft'ect  a  cure  it  would 
not  be  reasonable  to  suppose  that  God  would  interpose 
a  miracle.  Nor  could  a  reasonable  person  ask  him  to 
do  so.  In  this  we  do  not  wish  to  be  understood  as  pro- 
claiming that  ijod  never  works  miraculously  onlv  for 
strictly  incurable  cases.  We  believe  He  is  ready  to 
work  miraculously  for  any  case  that  is  not  criminally 
negligent  of  natural  law.  There  are  thousands  who 
are  doing  the  best  they  know  in  their  ignorance  of 
health  ])rinciples.  (_)ur  Heaveidy  Father  is  readv  to 
work  miraculiuisl}'  for  such  in  their  extremity,  but 
this  would  not  justif}'  them  in  remaining  in  ignorance. 
We  have  stated  the  general  principle  of  the  relation- 
ships between  miracles  and  inspired  natural  healing 
for  those  wdio  ought  to  be  intelligent  in  natural  law. 
To  illustrate;  suppose  a  person  has  cold  feet  and 
hands,. and  a  severe  headache  due  in  part  to  drinking 
string  tea  or  coffee.  Shall  we  make  such  a  case  the 
subject  of  prayer  and  expect  a  miracle  of  healing?  It 
lodks  as  if  the  sensible  thing  to  do  would  be  to  cast 
aside  the  drug,  take  a  hot  foot  bath  and  drink  a  few 
cups  of  hot  water  to  wash  out  the  poison  from  the 
bill!  1(1  ill  a  natural  wa}'.  (iod  in\ites  us  to  do  what  we 
can  for  ourselves,  and  reserves  miracles  for  our  extrem- 
it\-.  Instead  of  demanding  of  God  to  take  charge  of  our 
cases  and  keep  us  well,  will  it  not  be  wise  for  his  pro- 
fessing children  to  learn  all  tlu'\'  can  of  natural  reme- 
dies: asking  Him  for  wisdom  in  their  use  for  the  pres- 


GIFT  OF  HEALINGS  AND  MIRACLES  81 

ervation  and  restoration  of  health?  If  we  will  not  eat 
and  drink  and  breathe  as  we  ought,  how  can  we  ask 
God  to  work  miracles  in  our  behalf? 

If  God  should  interfere  niiraculously  in  the  cure  of 
every  ailment  He  would  be  placing  a  premium  on  the 
violation  of  His  own  Laws  in  Nature. 

There  is  little  doubt  but  this  neglect  of  natural  law 
has  put  miracles  far  away  from  Christian  people.  It 
ought  not  so  to  be.  A  people  doing  the  best  they  know 
to  keep  in  touch  with  the  Creator  through  daily  obedi- 
ence to  His  laws,  may  have  boldness  in  the  day  of  in- 
curable ailments  or  in  the  day  of  ignorance,  to  ask 
God  if  it  can  honor  Him  to  interfere  in  their  behalf, 
and  save  tliem  for  His  own  name's  sake.  There  is 
hope  in  such  cases  that  Jehovah  will  lend  a  listening 
ear.  Such  cases  are  on  record  in  these  very  days.  And 
there  will  be  more  of  them  as  His  children  learn  to 
obey  and  trust.  God  has  not  forsaken  ilis  humble 
trusting  people;  but  He  is  as  truly  working  for  their 
well  being  through  natural  means  when  they  are  obe- 
dient, as  He  is  when  working  miracles  for  them. 

Rut  death  even  is  not  the  worst  thing  that  can  come 
to  a  child  of  God.  The  fiat  went  forth  at  the  closing- 
doors  of  Eden.  "Dust  thou  art  and  unto  dust  shalt  thou 
return."  A  heart  unreconciled  to  the  will  of  God  and 
a  faith  that  cannot  return  to  the  Creator  all  He  has 
given  us,  even  life  itself,  and  trust  him  till  the  new 
creation,  "the  restitution  (^f  all  things  spoken  of  by 
the  mouth  of  all  the  holy  prophets  since  the  world 
began,"  such  a  feeble  faith  would  not  be  sufficient  to 
li\e  1)\'  if  all  our  ills  were  renioxed  an<l  eternal  life 
"ranted  to  us  here  and  now.  Passing  down  into  the 
shadow  of  death  is  the  one  supreme  test  of  faith,  and 


82  ESSENTIALS    TO    LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

the  assurances  of  a  resurrection  are  ample  if  we  only 
grasp  them. 

Like  Naaman,  the  Captain  General  of  the  Syrian 
host,  many  in  these  days  despise  the  simple,  common 
everyday  means  that  may  be  used  in  the  cure  of  dis- 
ease. When  told  to  take  seven  baths  in  Jordan  he  went 
away  in  a  great  rage.  He  said,  "Behold,  I  thought, 
He  will  surely  come  out  to  me,  and  stand,  and  call 
on  the  name  of  the  Lord  his  God,  and  strike  his  hand 
over  the  place  and  recover  the  leper."  II  Kings  5:n. 
He  wanted  to  see  a  demonstration.  The  love  of  the 
marvelous  and  romantic  still  prevails.  You  hear  peo- 
ple say  in  these  days  with  measured  emphasis,  "Well, 
the  Doctor  told  me  that  my  boy  had  the  very  worst 
case  of  diphtheria  he  ever  saw  in  all  his  practice."  We 
hear  such  remarks  frequently.  Many  physicians  de- 
sire the  people  to  think  that  they  have  had  a  most 
wonderful  deliverance  from  death  through  some  won- 
derful secret  remedy,  that  "just  acted  like  magic."  We 
often  hear  it  said,  "You  sent  for  me  just  in  time." 

^lost  of  the  people  are  not  prepared  to  appreciate  or 
even  recognize  the  worth  of  natural  agents  in  curing 
disease.  This  leads  them  to  look  for  some  marvelous, 
new,  far-fetched  and  dearly  bought  remedy,  with  a- 
strange  euphonious  name,  that  the  grandmothers  may 
have  used  under  the  name  of  "soda,  mint  and  rhubarb" 
or  "pink  root  and  senna."  It  is  this  foolish  craze  for 
some  marvelous  deliverance,  for  some  strange  thing, 
that  makes  it  possible  to  humbug  mankind. 

Some  of  the  pious  people  overlook  the  natural  reme- 
dies and  agonize  in  prayer  for  some  miracle  to  be 
wrought  in  their  behalf;  when  the  discarding  of  tea  or 
coffee  or  pork,  or  the  drinking  of  two  or  three  extra 


GIFT  OF  HEALINGS  AND  MIRACLES  83 

glasses  of  water  daily,  or  a  little  effort  at  breathing,  or 
throwing  their  worrying  overboard  would  have  set 
them  all  right. 

Those  who  claim  to  be  divine  healers  and  yet  ignore 
natural  law  and  its  application  to  the  relief  of  the 
sick  give  full  evidence  that  they  are  not  in  harmony 
with  the  Author  of  life.  He  made  life  dependent  on 
the  things  with  which  we  are  dealing.  When  this  de- 
pendence is  ignored  the  healer  has  cut  the  chains  which 
moored  him  to  the  Divine.  What  is  the  sense  in  as- 
suming that  God  and  Christ  will  work  for  the  sick, 
miraculoush',  when  the  very  natural  things  that  are 
ignored  and  trodden  in  the  mire  of  Self-Conceit  and 
demonology  if  applied  would  give  perfect  cure  to  the 
afflicted?  Men  and  women  almost  everywhere  need 
to  be  reformed,  not  emotionalized.  Divine  (?)  healing 
that  is  not  in  harmony  with  the  Creator  is  simply  a 
counterfeit.  It  is  a  part  of  that  wonder-working  fore- 
told by  many  of  the  old  prophets  and  by  the  Master 
himself. 

Others  who  deny  the  ()i)eratitin  of  divine  power 
only  through  natural  law  place  themselves  in  a  posi- 
tion where  it  is  impossible  for  God  to  work  miracu- 
lously for  them.  Those  who  believe  and  trust  and  truly 
seek  fellowship  with  Him  are  the  only  ones  for  whom 
God  could  safely  transcend  natural  law.  There  are 
few  today  who  could,  without  becoming  conceited, 
bear  in  their  own  persons  the  power  to  work  miracles 
or  could  endure  this  endowment  without  spiritual  in- 
jury. Foolish  humanity  would  soon  flatter  them  into 
self-exaltation.  Men  think  they  are  morally  and  men- 
tally strong  nowadays,  but  oh  how  weak,  when  tested 
by  the  divine  standard.    How  small  a  circumstance  re- 


84  ESSENTIALS    TO    LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

\-eals  the  folly.  The  writer  believes  that  the  Heavenly 
Father  is  graciously  waiting;  even  now  to  manifest  His 
creative  power  in  a  special  manner  in  the  recovery  of 
the  sick  and  He  will  whenever  he  finds  those  whom 
this  divine  aid  will  not  spoil.  He  that  has  been  faith- 
ful in  that  which  is  least  will  Ije  faithful  also  in  the 
greater  things.  Men  and  women  who  ha\e  learned 
to  love  God  for  His  revelations  of  himself  to  them, 
through  nature  and  His  word,  will  be  ])cst  fitted  to 
endure  and  profit  by  a  miraculous  revelation.  There 
have  been  such  manifestations  occasionally  all  along 
the  course  of  time.  Jn  our  time  there  are  an  abund- 
ance of  counterfeits  which  pass  current  ijuite  generally 
because  men  and  women  know  so  little  of  wdiat 
heaven's  bank  note  detecter,  the  Old  Bible,  contains. 
There  arc  a  lot  of  bills — promises  of  life  and  reward — 
afloat  today  that  will  never  pass  the  test  of  Heaven's 
Clearing  House. 


CHAPTER  VI. 
Disease  and  Its  Causes. 

Though  there  are  several  hundred  diseases  listed 
and  described  in  the  great  medical  works,  yet  the 
principles  underlying  all  are  comparatively  few.  Con- 
gestion is  the  same  anywhere  in  the  body,  and  is  not  a 
different  disease  in  one  organ  from  what  it  is  in  an- 
other. The  same  is  true  of  inflammation,  and  so  on  of 
many  conditions;  even  pain  is  nearly  always  from  the 
same  general  causes,  no  matter  in  what  organ  it  is 
located.  For  practical  work  in  the  care  of  the  sick 
it  is  not  al.)solutely  necessar}'  to  name  congestion  of 
the  throat,  pharyngitis,  and  in  the  brain  call  it  hypere- 
mia. Congestion  is  congestion  wherever  it  is  fecund 
and  the  same  general  ]ilan  that  will  relieve  it  in  one 
organ  will  relieve  ii  in  another.  So  of  every  other 
class  of  disturbance. 

If,  as  we  have  shown  in  former  chapters,  the  Essen- 
tials of  Life  and  Health  are  comprised  under  seven 
heads  :  then  ii  is  ])lain  that  every  deviation  from'health, 
except  diseases  of  heredity,  is  due  to  some  deviation 
from  these  Essentials  and  the  Laws  of  Life  growing 
out  of  them.  To  illustrate:  If  one  eats  pork  and  fine 
flour  In'cad,  and  drinks  some  liquor,  even  though  no 
stronger  than  wine  <r  beer,  and  tea  and  coffee,  and 
uses  tobacco,  he  will  be  imposing  burdens  on  his  di- 
gestive   and    nerxous    systems,    which    will    manifest 


86  ESSENTIALS    TO    LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

results  in  the  form  of  headaches,  duHness  of  mind, 
fits  of  temper,  disturbances  in  the  stomach  and  bowels 
and  liver,  coldness  of  the  hands  and  feet,  and  inactivity 
of  the  skin,  and  a  numerous  list  uf  other  symptoms. 
He  will  have  a  lot  of  trouble  in  his  ups  and  downs  be- 
tween one  kind  of  wretchedness  and  another.  Usually 
such  indulgences  use  the  man  up,  so  that  as  early  as 
the  age  of  forty  or  fifty  he  is  taken  away  by  an  attack 
of  fever,  or  pneumonia  or  apoplexy.  But  a  man  or 
woman  need  indulge  in  only  a  portion  of  these  abom- 
inable things  in  order  to  be  supremely  wretched.  Being 
brought  up  on  these  things  as  man}-  have  been,  they 
have  no  true  standard  of  health  or  physical  comfort. 
They  may  have  always  been  miserable,  suffering  with 
headaches,  or  stomach  or  bowel  difficulties.  They 
think  they  are  as  well  as  anybody,  just  because  they 
are  not  sick  in  l)ed.  They  ne\er  have  known  what 
it  was  to  have  a  clear  head  and  quiet  nerves  for  a  single 
moment  of  their  lives;  hence  they  have  no  correct 
standard  for  the  measurement  of  health. 

Suppose  a  person  lives  largely  on  fine  flour  bread 
or  crackers,  and  potatoes  with  meat  and  a  good  sprin- 
kling of  pepper,  vinegar,  and  mustard.  If  such  a  one 
suffers  with  constipation  and  kidney  trouble  and 
rheumatism  and  thirst  for  liquor,  it  is  only  a  natural 
consequence  of  his  food  habits.  He  finds  cathartics  a 
necessity  because  he  does  not  know  liow  to  select 
proper  food. 

Again  suppose  the  individual  neglects  water  drink- 
ing, and  allows  his  fluid  circulation  to  thicken  until 
the  heart  palpitates,  and  throbs  and  labors  and  misses 
beats  in  its  efforts  to  drive  the  heavy,  thickened  fluids 
through  the  fine  passages.     Will  it  be  any  wonder  if 


DISEASE  AND  ITS  CAUSES  87 

neuralgic  pains  follow  the  crystallization  of  uric  acid 
in  the  nerves  and  about  the  gristly  tissues  of  the 
joints?  Any  wonder  if  such  an  one  has  headaches  and 
stupidity  of  the  mental  faculties?  Any  wonder  that 
the  bowels  dry  up? 

Again  suppose  that  there  is  a  family  that  do  not 
half  breathe,  that  shut  themselves  up  away  from  the 
sunlight  in  a  stuffy  close  house  until  they  look  pale 
and  anemic  and  bloodless.  They  may  have  gotten 
hold  of  some  ideas  about  correct  diet.  That  will  not 
save  them  if  the  blood  is  not  cleaned  with  the  oxygen 
and  the  light. 

And  if  we  find  people  who  have  quite  a  good  knowl- 
edge of  all  the  principles  of  health,  and  yet  go  about 
half  clad,  with  their  children  half  clothed,  the  floors 
of  the  house  so  cold  and  open  that  everybody  has 
cold  feet  and  limbs,  and  baby  is  lialf  frozen  all  the 
day  long;  need  you  be  surprised  if  that  family  have 
snuffles  and  catarrh  and  colds  and  influenza,  and  if 
they  become  a  prey  to  diphtheria  and  pneumonia  or 
consumption.  Need  the  preacher  at  the  funeral  call 
it  a  wonderful  dispensation  of  Divine  Providence  when 
it  was  only  a  dispensation  of  poverty,  ignorance  or 
neglect? 

But  suppose  there  is  a  man  who  is  quite  careful  how 
he  feeds  and  drinks  and  clothes  himself,  and  keeps 
warm,  but  was  unfortunate  enough  to  have  been  "born 
tired."  What  can  be  expected  for  him  after  a  few 
years  of  idleness  and  do-nothing?  Tf  physical  decay 
and  old  age  creep  on  in  the  middle  of  life,  just  because 
he  did  not  stir  about  enough  to  carry  off  the  waste 
from  his  bodv.  will  he  or  anvone  else  have  a  right  to 


88  ESSENTIALS    TO    LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

find  fault  witli  Providence  for  the  disasters  consequent 
on  Ills  dislike  for  labor? 

But  ao;ain,  here  is  a  class  of  good  pious  Christians, 
both  brethren  and  sisters,  so  full  of  care,  anxiety, 
worry  and  mental  distress,  perhaps  over  their  own  or 
possibly  some  other  one's  sin,  suffering  or  poverty,  or 
over  the  temperance  cause,  or  the  conditions  of  morals 
in  the  church  and  world.  They  are  at  it  from  earlv 
morn  till  dewy  eve.  Worry,  worry,  wcrr}'.  Perhaps 
they  pray  earnestly.  What  wonder  if  such  forget  to 
breathe,  to  drink,  to  eat,  and  to  clothe  themselves 
properly,  or  attend  to  their  own  natural  wants?  What 
wonder  if  after  a  few  years  their  bodies  are  so  worn 
out  for  want  of  rest  and  nutrition  that  cases  of  nervous 
prostration  or  insanity  develop?  Again  will  the  pious 
Dominic  la}'  the  blame  at  the  door  of  an  all-wise  Provi- 
dence? Undoubtedly.  We  are  tired  of  seeing  men 
and  women  cast  away  common  sense.  Again  we  say 
they  use  their  dumb  brutes  J^etter  than  they  do  them- 
selves. When  the  human  mind  and  body  need  rest, 
there  is  nothing  in  the  uni\crse  that  will  take  the 
place  of  it. 

Perhaps  the  individual  is  so  filled  with  the  cares 
of  this  life  that  he  does  not  ha\e  time  to  see  that 
the  air  and  water  supply  is  kept  pure.  The  soft  coal 
smoke  nuisance  or  the  breathing  of  dust  may  have 
weakened  the  lungs  and  prepared  them  for  an  attack 
of  pneumonia  or  tuberculosis.  Perhaps  the  cows  are 
drinking  from  a  polluted  stream,  or  possibly  the  barn- 
vard  cr  j^rivy  \ault  is  draining  into  the  well.  This 
may  and  often  does  mean  death  by  typhoid  fever.  The 
family  may  have  been  slothful  about  providing  screens 
for  doors  and  windows.     The  flies  may  have  brought 


DISEASE  AND  ITS  CAUSES  89 

germs  to  the  food  on  the  pantry  shelves,  or  the  mos- 
quitoes may  have  brought  infection  of  malaria  or  yel- 
low fever  to  some  member  of  the  family;  or  possibly 
the  pestiferous  little  flea  may  have  wandered  away 
from  the  bubonic  plague  infected  rat  and  taken  up 
his  residence  with  the  family,  and  one  or  more  of  the 
family  may  have  been  poisoned  with  this  deadly  virus. 
These  are  not  imaginary  possibilities,  they  are  the 
stern  realities  of  today.  Men  must  wake  up  to  the 
subject  of  prevention  ;  to  hygiene  in  all  its  simplicity 
and  effectiveness. 

When  these  laws  of  nature,  to  the  violation  of  which 
we  have  just  called  attention  are  thus  disregarded, 
every  organ  in  the  body  must  suffer,  some  more,  some 
less.  When  the  first  symptoms  of  suffering  come  is 
the  time  to  call  a  halt  and  inquire  wherein  am  I  out 
of  harmony  with  natural  laws?  In  some  cases  we 
should  not  wait  for  first  symptoms  but  take  steps  to 
prevent  even  the  occurrence  of  symptoms.  Do  not  at 
any  rate  wait  till  some  vital  organ  breaks  down  and 
you  are  compelled  to  lie  for  weeks  on  a  bed  of  sickness. 
To  briefly  sum  up  these  causes,  disease  may  be  pro- 
duced, first,  by  hereditary  transmission  ;  second,  by  per- 
sonal violations  of  natural  law;  third,  by  germ  infec- 
tion through  the  air  or  water,  or  food;  fourth,  by  in- 
sect or  reptile  bites ;  fifth,  by  infection  through  newly 
made  wounds,  as  in  cases  of  blood  poisoning; 
sixth,  by  accident.  Of  all  these  causes  by  far  the  most 
fruitful  is  personal  violation  of  law.  This  breaks  down 
vital  resistance,  and  prepares  the  way  for  germ  infec- 
tions of  every  class. 

Germ  infections  are  much  less  frequent  in  those  who 
have  kept   themselves  physically  toned   up  by  obedi- 


90  ESSENTIALS    TO    LIFE    AKD    HEALTH 

ence,  and  such  are  better  prepared  to  withstand  the 
inroads  of  blood  poisoning  and  they  will  get  well  of 
accidents  much  quicker.  Good  digestion  and  assimila- 
tion fortify  the  body  against  the  attacks  of  disease. 
In  nearly  every  case  of  sickness  there  is  a  disturbance 
in  the  circulation  of  the  blood ;  too  much  blood  in  one 
organ  or  part  and  net  enough  in  another.  It  is  a 
common  thing  to  find  the  skin  cold,  and  internal  or- 
gans congested.  Sometimes  the  feet  and  hands  are 
cold  and  the  head  hot.  The  thing  to  do  is  to  equalize 
the  circulation  as  soon  as  possible,  and  keep  it  equal- 
ized. Most  troubles  begin  with  abuses  of  the  stomach. 
Instead  of  inquiring,  where  is  a  bottle  that  I  can  take 
some  medicine  out  of  to  cure  my  stomach,  just  reflect 
on  the  probable  abuse  you  have  been  inflicting  on 
your  stomach  or  some  other  physically  bad  thing  you 
have  been  doing,  and  then  leave  cff  that  abuse.  If 
some  Thanksgiving,  or  Christmas,  or  birthday  or  pic- 
nic dinner  has  made  you  trouble,  take  a  lesson,  and 
watch  that  you  do  not  take  the  whole  bill  of  fare  next 
time.  It  may  look  like  a  great  loss  that  you  suffer  in 
passing  by  a  part  of  the  bill  of  fare,  but  it  will  doubt- 
less cost  you  less  to  deny  self  than  to  endure  the  pain 
and  hairpulling,  and  the  doctor's  bills  that  arc  in  store 
for  the  over-indulgent. 

The  good  housewife  should  learn  to  prepare  less 
variety  for  each  meal,  thus  reducing  temptation  to 
its  lowest  terms.  Variety  may  be  introduced  from 
meal  to  meal.  We  might  multiply  suggestions  along 
these  lines  for  many  pages,  but  a  few  words  to  the 
wise  ought  to  suffice.  Always  bear  in  mind  that  an 
"ounce  of  prevention  is  worth  a  ton  of  cure"  every- 
where and  all  the  time,  and  that  "to  be  hygiene  in 
spots  may  add  years  to  one's  life." 


CHAPTER  VII. 
Mental  Causes  and  Mental  Remedies. 

In  this  chapter  the  careful  reader  will  observe  more 
or  less  of  repetition  of  some  of  the  leading"  thoughts, 
but  each  time  in  somewhat  new  relationships  or  phases 
of  the  subject.  A  subject  so  new  as  this  one.  will 
bear  a  little  more  of  reiteration  than  an  old  theme 
with  which  every  one  may  be  more  or  less  familiar. 
There  is  still  an  immense  field  for  thought  and  ex- 
pression left  untouched  and  the  writer  does  not  yet 
feel  capable  of  the  task  of  sifting  everything  on  the 
Law  of  Rest  and  reducing  expression  to  its  lowest 
terms.  It  will  not  surprise  him  if  others  shall  take 
up  this  topic  and  amplify  it  much  more  than  he  ha?- 
done. 

In  considering  this  great  subject  we  shall  have  t" 
dig  deeper  into  the  Law  of  Rest  than  we  have  yet 
done.  We  shall  also,  in  order  to  bring-  out  the  truth 
even  in  outline,  have  to  consider  some  phases  of  the 
question  which  are  not  usually  considered  in  Medical 
or  Hygienic  Works.  We  shall  reach  the  point  where 
Spiritual  Law  in  the  Natural  World  has  its  fullest 
application.  Drummond  tried  to  show  us  the  appli- 
cation of  "Natural  Law  in  the  Spiritual  World."  We 
think  we  can  reverse  this  title  and  look  backward  and 
downward  from  the  heights  of  Spiritual  Law  and 
sec  its  application  to  the  things  of  the  Natural  World. 


92  ESSENTIALS    TO    LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

The  Law  of  Rest  is  not  only  the  chief  corner  stone  ot 
the  laws  of  this  life,  but  it  is  the  foundation  of  all 
forms  of  religion,  both  true  and  false.  Religion  is  any 
system  of  faith  and  worship.  Many  religions  have 
been  invented  by  men  to  secure  peace  here  by  insuring 
the  life  to  come.  This  would  seem  from  outward  ap- 
pearances to  be  the  mission  of  religion.  But  of  late 
some  phases  of  religion  have  appeared  which  are 
making  more  of  an  application  of  the  Law  of  Rest  to 
the  life  that  now  is  than  has  been  the  habit  in  by- 
gone years.  But  they  are  using  forms  of  mysticism 
and  phases  of  occultism  to  produce  results  instead 
of  openly  and  plainly  using  the  ideas  and  language 
of  simple  natural  law  and  making  application  of  this 
law  in  its  simplicity.  The  Law  of  Rest  is  appealed 
to  under  other  iianies  and  terms  and  the  other  prin 
ciples   of   natural    law    are   ignored. 

The  Law  of  Rest,  being  the  chief  corner  stone  of 
Hygiene  and  the  foundation  of  Religion,  places  true 
religion  in  a  very  close  relationship  with  the  Laws  of 
Hygiene.  "Godliness  (true  religion)  is  profitable  in 
all  things,  having  promise  of  the  life  that  now  is  and 
of  that  which  is  to  come."  T  Tim.  4:8.  "Beloved,  1 
wish  above  all  things  that  thou  mayest  prosper  and  be 
in  health  even  as  thy  soul  prospereth."  HI  John  2. 
True  Hygiene  and  religion  are  inseparably  connected. 
True  Hygiene  deals  with  life  here  as  the  beginning 
of  the  eternal  life.  True  religion  deals  with  this  phase 
of  life  and  with  the  life  to  come,  also  inseparably  con- 
necting .  the  two.  Any  religion  which  ignores  the 
divine  laws  of  nature  will  ignore  the  moral  law  when 
it  crosses  that  form  of  religion.  A  religion  which 
l)roniiscs   peace  and  rest   without   obedience  promises 


MENTAL  CAUSES  AND  MENTAL  REMEDIES   93 

citizenshii-)  without  loyalty.  The  wise  man  will  want 
a  religion  which  recognizes  and  regulates  the  rela- 
tions of  this  life  so  that  it  will  merge  naturally  and 
smoothly   into  the  life  to  come. 

Let  us  Analyze  the  Law  of  Rest  and  see  how  re- 
ligion and  hygiene  both  grow  out  of  it  and  how  the 
two  stand  related  in  this  law.  First,  analysis  on  the 
basis  of  matter  and  mind  gives  us  physical  and  mental 
rest.  Physical  rest  is  so  well  understood  we  will  not 
stop  to  dwell  on  it  now.  But  it  all  depends  on  the 
mental  status.  Without  mental  rest  there  can  be  no 
form  of  physical  repose.  The  recuperation  of  the 
physical  man  depends  largely  on  the  mental  condi- 
tions and  in  turn  the  mental  states  are  very  dependent 
on  the  physical  conditions.  The  man  under  the  con- 
trol of  intemperate  habits  is  sure  to  have  a  disordered 
mind  devoid  of  true  mental  rest.  There  is  a  relation- 
ship of  mutual  dependence  between  the  mind  and  bod} 
which  will  appear  more  fully  as  we  proceed.  Mental 
Rest  is  classified  as  Natural  or  Spiritual  according  tc 
the  nature  of  the  foundations  on  which  the  confidence 
is  placed.  Rest,  peace,  repose  are  the  immediate  re- 
sults of  faith,  trust,  confidence.  The  quality  of  the 
rest  and  peace  will  depend  entirely  on  the  nature  oi' 
the  objects  on  which  the  mind  chooses  to  place  its 
reliance.  .-\  man  may  rest  in  the  assurance  of  his  fel- 
low man  or  he  may  trust  in  the  forces  that  are  con- 
stantly working  in  nature,  he  may  trust  in  some  law 
of  hygiene  or  in  some  scheme  of  his  own  devising, 
he  may  be  led  to  ])lacc  confidence  in  a  pleasing  false 
hood.  The  permanence  and  quality  of  his  peace  and 
rest  all  depend  on  the  stability  and  character  of  th< 
basis.     The  fellow  man  mav  fail :  so  mav  his  schemes. 


94  ESSEJNTIALrS    TO    L,IFE    AND    HEALTH 

The  pleasing  falsehood  may  be  unmasked.  The  forces 
of  nature  ma)'-  become  disordered.  This  trust  in  our 
natural  surroundings  brings  not  the  perfect  peace.  To 
trust  in  Creative  power  as  we  see  it  manifest  in  the 
sun,  moon  and  stars  and  on  our  own  planet  does  not 
get  beyond  the  natural  form  of  mental  rest.  One 
step  farther  before  we  reach  the  spiritual  form.  We 
must  ha\e  a  personal  acquaintance  with  the  Creator 
of  all  these  things ;  then  may  we  have 

Spiritual  Rest. 

This  means  fellowship  with  the  Father  above.  There 
is  nothing  mystical  about  this  rest.  It  is  not  a  far 
away  dream,  a  mere  phantasma  of  the  human  mind 
and  will.  It  is  not  an  ecstatic  state  of  mind  e\olved 
from  one's  own  inner  consciousness.  It  is  just  as 
easy  of  comprehension  as  the  relationship  of  loving 
trust  and  peace  that  exists  between  a  true  child  and 
its  faithful  parent.  There  is  no  mystery  whatever 
about  it.  It  is  more  than  resting  in  creative  power; 
it  is  knowing  the  Creator  himself  thru  the  indwell- 
ing of  the  Spirit  which  he  sends  to  preside  in  our  frail 
bodies  when  we  ourselves  present  our  bodies  to  ])c 
the  Temples  of  His  Spirit.  We  may  admire  the 
genius,  the  mental  qualities  and  the  power  of  thought 
that  produces  and  executes  the  plan  for  some  grand 
work  of  art.  lUit  it  is  a  vastly  different  state  of  mind 
that  takes  possession  of  us  when  we  come  to  really 
know  the  artist,  to  be  at  home  in  his  presence,  to 
trust  him  personally  and  love  him  for  what  he  is, 
and  feel  our  love  reciprocated.  To  feel  that  he  is  a 
faithful  and  true  friend  with  whom  we  may  have 
bosom   companionship,  to  know  that  he  will   be  true 


MENTAL  CAUSES  AND  MENTAL  REMEDIES      95 

to  our  interests  as  well  as  his  own ;  this  is  a  faint  con- 
ception of  Fellowship  with  the  Divine.  Earth's  best 
illustrations  of  fellowship  are  marred  by  imperfections 
and  there  are  but  few  that  approximate  to  the  ideal. 
To  be  "in  tune  with  the  infinite"  in  nature  is  not 
necessarily  to  know  God  and  have  fellowship  with 
Him;  but  to  have  fellowship  with  Him  is  to  be  in 
perfect  harmony  with  all  His  works  and  laws. 

There  remains  in  every  soul  the  shadow  of  a  longing 
for  companionship,  a  disposition  to  lean  toward  some 
one  who  is  equal  or  superior  for  help,  counsel  and 
guidance.  The  Divine  Spirit  as  it  broods  over  a  fallen 
race,  wooing  them  back  toward  fellowship  with 
the  Heavenly  Father,  is  often  repulsed  or  disregarded 
because  of  the  dullness  of  this  filial  sense  in  mankind. 
Humanity  has  been  so  deceived,  so  disappointed  from 
childhood  up  that  it  distrusts  and  doubts  almost  every- 
thing; even  the  Divine  impulses  within. 

A  Sense  of  Personality  is  necessary  in  order  to  an 
appreciation  of  the  Creator.  There  can  be  no  fellow- 
ship without  a  sense  of  the  personality  of  the  thing 
fellowshipped.  You  cannot  fellowship  the  laws  of 
nature  or  the  law  of  gravitation  or  even  creative 
power.  There  must  be  a  person  or  a  being  whom  we 
can  appreciate  and  who  appreciates  us  before  we  can 
think  of  fellowship.  Fellowship  is  harmonious  agree- 
ment with  another  being.  Thought  responds  to 
thought  and  heart  to  heart.  The  Bible,  when  read 
with  a  loving  tender  heart  or  with  even  an  inquiring 
heart,  reveals  a  being  who  knows  what  is  in  man.  Ht- 
knows  every  pang  of  sorrow,  every  struggling  effort  of 
the  soul  to  be  free,  every  longing  aspiration  for  a 
better  state  of  being  within.  He  invites  the  creature's 


96  ESSENTIALS    TO     LIB^E    AND    HEALTH 

confidence  and  only  asks  him  to  come  into  harmony 
with  the  Divine  mind.  Man,  through  generations  of 
self  management,  finds  it  difficult  to  at  once  yield  fully 
to  the  drawing  impulses  of  the  Divine  heart,  but  when 
he  begins  to  yield  the  fellowship  begins.  Then  com- 
mences the  new  life  which  grows  and  expands  and 
becomes  beautiful  as  the  fellowship  becomes  more  har- 
monious and  intimate. 

Evolution. 

From  the  time  when  evolution  began  to  prevail  in 
so-called  Christian  lands  all  the  new  forms  of  religious 
thought  have  sought  to  eliminate  every  idea  of  per- 
sonality in  the  Deity  and  represent  Him  as  a  mere 
force  or  power  or  life — a  shadowy  essence  pervading 
all  things  material.  This  we  are  encouraged  to  think 
is  the  God  of  the  universe.  He  it  is  in  every  man  and 
everything.  This  doctrine  is  not  new.  It  has  been 
known  in  India  and  China  and  Japan  from  time  im- 
memorial. Its  former  name  was  Pan-the-ism ; — Pan 
— all,  Theos — god,  ism — a  doctrine  :  the  doctrine  that 
all  things  or  the  soul  in  all  things  constitutes  God. 
Now  we  hear  much  of  the  "allness"  of  God,  of  the 
"imminent  God,"  that  "all  is  God  (good)"  and  "God 
is  all."  This  doctrine  is  fatal  to  all  fellowship  with 
"Him  in  whose  hand  is  the  s<^ul  of  every  living  thing 
and  the  breath  of  all  mankind." 

The  Creator  Misrepresented. 

This  Heavenly  Father  has  been  badly  misrepre- 
sented to  the  children  of  men  even  by  His  professed 
children.  He  has  been  made  to  appear  as  a  god  of 
wrath   and   vindictiveness.      The    doctrine  of  an   eter- 


MENTAL  CAUSES  AND  MENTAL  REMEDIES   97 

nally  burning  hell  has  done  much  to  wither  and  sear 
human  hearts.  The  words  "fear  of  God"  and  "wrath 
of  God,"  and  the  term  "jealous  God"  have  been  made 
to  apply  in  their  worst  light  to  him  who  is  infinite  in 
love  and  mercy,  "whose  tender  mercies  are  over  all 
his  works."  Perhaps  the  baser  meaning  has  been 
put  to  the  terms  "fear"  and  "wrath"  because  of  the 
awfulness  of  the  "eternal  hell  fire"  doctrine.  If  "fear" 
had  been  taken  in  the  sense  of  "reverence"  and 
"wrath"  in  the  sense  of  "divine  Justice"  and  "jealous" 
in  its  nobler  sense  of  "vigorous  in  guarding,"  and  that 
horrible  doctrine  of  infinite  punishment  for  finite  sins 
had  not  come  into  the  church  the  world  today  would 
have  been  much  nearer  in  fellowship  with  a  loving 
tender  Heavenly  Father,  whose  pity  and  mercy  knows 
no  bounds.  It  is  these  false  notions  of  God  that  have 
made  it  possible  for  old  Pantheism  to  rear  its  head  in 
Christian  lands  and  prepare  itself  for  the  task  of  dig- 
ging the  grave  of  pure  Christianity.  Where  this  Pan- 
theistic notion  of  God  prevails  there  can  be  no  fellow- 
ship with  God,  because  as  we  have  already  said  there 
is  no  sense  of  personality  left  on  which  to  base  fellow- 
ship. If  this  doctrine  of  the  nonpersonality  of  God 
prevails  the  world  will  soon  orphan  itself.  And  then 
what?  The  inborn  love  for  communion  and  fellow- 
ship will  lead  men  to  seeking  through  nature  for  qual- 
ties  of  character  to  w'orship,  as  the  old  Egyptians 
worshipped  cunning  under  the  form  of  the  fox  and 
wisdom  under  that  of  the  owl.  They  had  thirty  thou- 
sand gods.  In  our  times  we  shall  have  more  if  this 
Pantheism    prex'ails. 

Favorable   Mental   Conditions.      Reader,  if  you   can 
appreciate  the  being  of  a  Creator  who  is  our  Heavenly 


98  ESSENTIALS    TO    LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

Father,  whose  Son  came  to  this  world  to  represent  his 
Father  properly  to  mankind,  then  you  may  soon  know 
what  it  is  to  have  Spiritual  Rest  and  peace.  "Thou 
wilt  keep  him  in  perfect  peace  whose  mind  is  stayed 
on  Thee  because  he  trusteth  in  thee."  Isa.  26:3.  Here 
is  perfect  peace.  So  said  the  old  prophet  Isaiah,  and 
his  saying  is  worth  more  to  me  than  all  the  sayings 
of  all  the  modern  philosophers.  /Tf  a  man  love  me 
he  will  keep  my  words,  and  my  Father  will  love  him, 
and  we  will  come  unto  him  and  take  up  our  abode 
with  him."  Jno.  14:23.  "Peace  I  leave  with  you,  my 
peace  I  give  unto  you.  Not  as  the  world  giveth,  give 
1  unto  you.  Let  not  your  heart  be  troubled,  neither  let 
it  be  afraid."  Jno.  14:27.  Jesus  the  personal  Savior  and 
his  personal  Father  will  dwell  in  our  hearts  through 
the  fellowship  of  loving  trust  by  the  living  presence 
of  the  Divine  Spirit  bringing  in  "the  peace  of  God 
which  passeth  understanding."  This  loving  trust — only 
another  way  of  saying  confidence  and  good  will — in 
and  toward  Him  and  all  His  creatures  is  the  basis  of 
perfect  peace.  This  peace  is  the  true  basis  of  health 
and  the  basis  of  all  Christianity.  All  the  finer  qualities 
of  soul  and  mind  and  heart  are  the  direct  fruit  of  this 
combination  of  loving  trust.  All  joy,  long  suffering, 
goodness,  gentleness,  meekness,  mercy  and  self  con- 
trol and  every  noble  and  pure  purpose  flow  from  this 
fountain  of  "faith  which  worketh  by  love."  Gal.  5 :6. 
"Against  such  there  is  no  law."  These  all  minister 
to  the  cause  of  peace,  repose  and  prosperity,  both  f(jr 
this  life  and  the  life  to  come.  This  is  Spiritual  Rest. 
This  insures  life  here  and  hereafter. 

When  any  form  of  rest,  from  any  source,  takes  pos- 
session of  the  soul  there  will  be  a  degree  of  peace  and 


MENTAL,  CAUSES  AND  MENTAL  REMEDIES      99 

joy  and  prosperity.  Every  bodily  function  grows 
stronger  and  more  natural  and  regular  in  its  workings. 
Health  has  a  better  chance  to  prevail  even  in  badly 
diseased  bodies.  The  food  digests  better,  the  heart 
beats  freer,  the  breathing  is  more  easy  and  normal. 
The  basis  of  this  condition  of  afifairs  is  confidence, 
faith,  trust  in  something.  It  is  easy  to  see  that  the 
higher  and  nobler,  the  broader  and  more  stable  the 
basis  of  trust,  the  more  perfect  will  be  the  peace  and 
rest  and  joy.  To  be  completely  perfect  every  ]V)Ssi- 
ble  soul  disturbance,  past,  present  and  future  must 
be  provided  for.  Any  object  or  objects  on  which  con- 
fidence rests  which  falls  short  of  covering  the  whole 
field  of  trouble  must  be  only  an  incomplete  founda- 
tion. The  range  of  objects  of  faith  extends  from  the 
Creator  of  the  universe  all  down  through  the  diflfcrenl 
objects  in  nature  and  works  of  human  invention  to 
the  heathen  Joss.  In  these  days  every  shadow  of 
human  theory  imaginable  is  cropping  up  here  and 
there  and  courting  human  confidence,  j^romising  rest 
as  the   consequence  of  acceptance. 

Adverse  Mental  Conditions. 

The  opposite  states  of  mind,  are  doubt,  unbeliel'. 
distrust,  fear,  hate,  wrath,  envy,  jealousy,  care,  worry. 
anxiety,  grief,  agony,  remorse,  despair,  "and  such  like"' 
all  of  which  are  against  all  law  and  out  of  harnrony 
with  every  phase  of  the  kingdom  which  is  from  above. 
You  may  add  to  these  pride,  ambition,  covetousncss, 
lust,  and  you  have  enough  evil  states  of  mind  to  ac- 
count for  about  nine-tenths  of  all  the  ills  that  llcsh 
is  heir  to.  Each  of  these  finalities  of  mind  puts  its 
own  stamp  on  that  index  of  the  physical  and  mental 


lOU  ESSENTIALS    TO    LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

beins; — the  face.     Even  the  novice  can  read  many  nt' 
these   outward   signs  of  an   inward   state. 

We  are  frequently  witnessing  cases  of  sudden  col- 
lapse or  death  as  the  result  of  sudden  fear  or  wrath 
or  the  agony  of  disappointment.  What  then  must 
be  the  chronic  effects.  To  pride  is  due  a  large  pro- 
portion of  the  deaths  from  consumption  and  pneumonia 
— yes,  to  pride  of  dress.  Corns  and  bunions  are  chiefly 
due  to  the  same  cause.  A  false  social  pride  leads 
the  way  to  much  of  the  race  suicide,  the  slaughter  of 
unborn  infants,  and  all  the  direful  consequences  that 
follow.  Unbridled  lust  prepares  the  way  for  the  loath- 
some sexual  diseases  that  are  annually  taking  thou- 
sands of  otherwise  promising  men  and  women  off 
the  stage  of  action.  Hate  and  wrath  and  envy  and 
jealousy  destroy  the  peace  of  tens  of  thousands  and 
lead  to  many  cases  of  murder  and  suicide.  Remorse 
and  despair  end  in  suicide.  Care,  worry,  and  anxiety 
keep  the  body  on  a  tension  until  appetite  is  destroyed, 
respiration  hindered  and  indigestion  and  all  the  ills 
which  follow  are  well  established.  Sometimes  the  ten- 
sion of  worry  in  connection  with  pride  of  dress  is  so 
great  as  to  generate  tumors  in  various  parts  of  the 
body.  Prf)bably  nine-tenths  of  all  cases  of  abdominal 
surgery  in  women  are  due  to  pride  of  dress  (the 
corset)  and  worry.  Sometimes  fear  of  the  wrath  of 
God  and  remorse  for  sin  drives  some  soul  to  insanity 
or  suicide.  Need  we  say  more?  These  depress  the 
life  forces  and  minister  <leath  and  nothing  else  to  the 
human  race.  This  waste  of  energy  is  well  illustrated 
by  the  leaks  in  a  mill  Hume  which  let  out  so  much 
water  that  there  is  not  enough  left  to  turn  the  wheel 
at   the  end  of  the  flume.      Are   we  not  very  near  the 


MENTAL  CAUSES  AND  MENTAL,  REMEDIES     101 

truth  when  we  ^.ay  that  nine-tenths  of  all  the  ills  of 
the  Hesh  are  due  to  mental  causes?  These  ailments 
are  in  no  sense  imaginary.  They  are  just  as  real  as 
any  other  ache  or  pain  or  physical  condition  due 
to  the  violation  of  any  other  natural  law. 

Mental  Remedies. 

It  needs  no  argument  and  hut  few  words  to  show 
that  the  removal  of  the  cause  is  the  sovereign  remedy 
in  this  class  of  ailments.  Of  course  in  some  of  these 
cases  the  damage  done  through  the  wrong  state  of 
mind  is  irreparable.  But  in  a  great  majority  of  cases 
if  peace  and  rest  and  lasting  repose  can  be  brought 
into  the  mind  there  will  be  permanent  and  lasting 
relief.  The  pressure  and  tension,  once  removed,  the 
life  forces  will  assert  their  repairing  power  and  the 
body  will  be  restored.  Hope,  joy,  courage,  cheerful- 
ness and  gladness  are  some  of  the  potent  remedies 
to  be  drawn  from  nature's  mental  trust  fund.  Faith, 
confidence,  hope,  joy,  courage,  rest,  and  peace  and  love, 
were  the  original  natural  conditions  in  the  human 
soul  before  sin  marred  the  handiwork  of  the  Creator. 
There  is  life,  activity,  vivacity  and  health  where  these 
conditions  have  prevailed.  The  opposite  conditions 
of  fear,  doubt,  remorse,  anxiety,  grief,  despair,  envy, 
jealousy  and  hate  can  not  help  bearing  the  opposite 
kind  of  fruit.  There  is  only  one  kind  of  sorrow  that 
has  life  in  it  and  that  is  the  "Godly  sorrow  that 
worketh  repentance."  This  sorrow  through  forgive- 
ness, ends  in  jo3\  We  must  repeat  again  the  words 
of  a  well  known  modern  writer,  "Nine-tenths  of  all 
the  diseases  of  humanity  arc  due  to  mental  causes." 

Mind  cure  thus  becomes  the  most  important  means 


102  ESSENTIALS    TO    LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

of  cure  known  and  nothing"  can  take  its  place  in  the 
Materia  Medica,  and  there  is  not  a  shadow  of  miracle 
about  it  because  it  is  a  perfectly  natural  means  of  cure. 
Sometimes  we  see  sudden,  almost  instantaneous  re- 
lief, come  either  as  the  result  of  restored  confidence 
or  diversion  of  mind.  Because  of  the  sudden  return 
to  apparently  healthy  conditions,  some  have  thouij;ht 
these  were  cases  of  miraculous  healing.  But  if  grief 
and  sorrow  and  disappointment  over  bad  news  can 
suddenly  prostrate  the  individual  may  not  joy,  cour- 
age, and  cheerfulness,  through  confidence  regained,  as 
suddenly  restore  the  body  to  its  normal  conditions? 
Both  are  purely  natural  results,  one  of  violation  of 
the  Law  of  Rest,  the  other  of  obedience  to  that  law. 
There  can  be  nothing  miraculous  about  such  a  case. 
The  miracle  comes  in  only  where  some  organic  change 
is  made  or  some  suspension  of  natural  law  appea<|> 

Best  Mental  Remedy. 

lUit  the  mental  remedy  of  greatest  value  is  Spiritual 
Rest.  He  who  has  this  Rest  will  have  all  the  other 
rest.  The  spiritual  law  will  prevail  in  the  natural 
world.  So  he  who  has  peace  with  God  through  the 
divine  fellowship  will  have  none  of  these  ills  that  arc- 
due  to  mental  causes  becavise  he  has  none  of  the 
mental  causes.  Here  again  Christianity  comes  into 
close  relationship  with  hygiene,  and  labors  with  di- 
vine wisdom  and  energy  to  work  those  life  depressing 
things  out  of  the  mind  and  bring  in  the  lasting  spiritual 
fellowship  and  rest.  This  law  of  Spiritual  Rest  brings 
the  kingdom  of  God  very  near  in  the  natural  world. 
But  it  does  not  cover  the  ailments  that  arise  directly 
from  want  of  sufficient  water  to  drink  or  from  being 


MENTAL  CAUSES  AND  MENTAL  REMEDIES     10.^ 

chilled  for  want  of  harmony  with  the  law  of  sunlight. 
And  violations  of  the  law  of  food  are  not  atoned  for  or 
set  aside  by  this  law  of  rest.  So  the  one  who  has 
secured  the  spiritual  rest  will  not  be  content  till  he 
is  in  harmony  with  all  the  laws  of  his  Heavenly  Fa- 
ther's  kingdom. 

A  Complete  Application  of  the  Law  of  Rest.  The 
man  of  intelligent,  well  balanced  mind  looks  forth 
upon  a  world  of  life  and  beauty  with  surprise  and 
astonishment.  As  years  advance  he  studies  not  only 
the  things  that  pertain  directly  to  existence  here,  but 
reaches  out  into  the  field  of  astronomy  and  studies 
the  mathematical  laws  that  govern  the  universe.  He 
is  lost  in  wonder  at  the  remarkable  gradations  in  the 
different  orders  of  life  about  him.  He  sees  order  in 
everything.  He  studies  the  laws  of  higher  mathe- 
matics. He  finds  infinite  accuracy  at  every  advance 
height  he  reaches.  He  is  lost  in  the  study  of  the  al- 
most limitless  variety  in  this  little  world  and  he  stands 
aghast  at  the  utterly  unfathomable  depths  of  space 
which  the  highest  art  of  man  reveals  through  the  tele- 
scope. Such  an  infinite  display  of  skill  and  power  as 
sun  after  sun  and  world  after  world,  countless  in  num- 
ber and  unlimited  in  variety  are  revealed  to  his  aston- 
ished and  admiring  perceptions.  His  heart  respond- 
ing to  its  own  innate  intuitions  bows  in  reverence 
before  the  august  and  infinite  display.  "The  unde- 
vout  astronomer  is  mad,"  said  one  who  was  delving 
into  the  mysteries  of  space  and  discovering  some  of 
the  laws  of  that  power  which  holds  these  worlds  in 
iheir  allotted  sphere  and  keeps  them  moving  for  hun- 
dreds, yea,  thousands  of  years,  without  the  slightest 
mathematical  variation,  either  of  time  or  space.    When 


104  ESSENTIALS    TO    LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

one  comes  to  sense  such  infinite  power  and  wisdom 
he  knows  there  must  be  a  designer,  one  who  laid  the 
plan,  a  Mind  and  a  Personality  capable  of  infinite 
conceptions  and  infinite  in  executive  ability.  To  avoid 
this  conclusion  a  man  must  deny  the  evidence  of  his 
own  better  judgement. 

An  Illustration. 

Suppose  some  poor  Hottentot,  who  had  never  seen 
a  white  man  and  knew  naught  of  civilization,  or  some 
pigmy  of  Africa,  should  find  a  watch  by  his  pathway 
all  in  good  running  order  and  ticking  away  as  it 
was  made  to  do;  do  you  think  his  first  conclusion 
would  be  as  he  held  the  strange  and  wonderful  mechan- 
ism in  his  hand,  "Here  is  something  that  made  itself." 
Do  you  think  the  discovery  of  that  watch  would  make 
an  evolutionist  of  him?  Not  at  all.  It  is  so  far  beyond 
his  ability  to  comprehend  both  in  mechanism  and  in 
the  question  of  utility  that  he  concludes,  "Some  being 
who  knows  more  than  I  do  and  more  than  any  man 
I  know  must  have  made  that  thing."  His  limited 
power  of  reasoning  from  effect  back  to  cause  would 
be  honored  by  every  civilized  evolutionist  on  earth 
for  reaching  such  a  conclusion.  It  would  be  heralded 
as  evidence  that  the  dwarf  could  reason  from  .cause 
to  effect  and  effect  to  cause  and  might  be  seized  upon 
by  some  as  evidence  of  the  evolution  of  all  men  from 
and  through  the  pigmy  stage  of  development.  So  the 
civilized  man  in  our  illustration  is  justified  in  his  con- 
clusion that  a  being  of  infinite  power  and  wisdom 
planned  and  executed  the  workmanship  of  this  uni- 
verse of  which  we  form  an  infinitesimal  part.  Paul 
says  on  this  point,  "Because  that  which  is  known  of 


MENTAL  CAUSES  AND  MENTAL  REMEDIES     105 

God  is  manifested  in  them,  for  God  manifested  it  unto 
them.  For  the  invisible  things  of  him  since  the  crea- 
tion of  the  world  are  clearly  seen,  being  perceived 
through  the  things  that  are  made,  even  his  everlasting 
power  and  divinity.  So  that  they  are  without  excuse." 
Rom.  1 :19,  20,  Am.  Rev.  When  the  unbiased  man  thus 
perceives  the  everlasting  power  and  divinity  of  a 
Creator  his  most  natural  inquiry  is,  How  may  I  know 
more  of  Him?  That  innate  longing  for  fellowship  is 
fanned  into  a  flame.  He  would  know  the  one  who 
gave  him  life  in  such  a  world,  who  gave  him  such  a 
body  and  such  perfectly  fitting  surroundings.  Paul 
again  says,  "That  they  should  seek  God  if  haply  they 
might  feel  after  him  and  find  him  though  he  be  not 
very  far  from  every  one  of  us."  Acts  17:27.  So  the 
true  normal  man  is  roused  in  the  depths  of  his  soul 
to  find  the  Creator  of  heaven  and  earth.  There  is 
but  one  thing  outside  of  nature  itself  which  professes 
to  be  a  revelation  of  this  Creator,  that  is  the  old  book 
called  the  Bible,  which  has  come  down  from  the  most 
ancient  time.  There  is  no  other  ancient  literature,  and 
no  other  system  of  religion,  which  pretends  to  know 
anything  about  a  Creator.  The  "god  of  this  world"" 
has  left  out  the  Creator  from  all  his  self-inspired  sys- 
tems because  he  wanted  to  get  rid  of  the  mighty  God 
of  the  universe  and  blot  him  out  of  the  conceptions  oi 
mankind.  If  one  would  know  Him  he  must  seek 
to  the  Bible.  To  that  fountain  the  true  seeker  resort> 
to  find  his  soul  fully  satisfied.  He  learns  to  fathom 
those  mysteries  of  existence  concerning  which  nature 
was  silent.  He  learns  the  relations  between  sin  an<l 
death.  The  plan  of  salvation  is  opened  to  him  and  lu- 
sees  the  way  through  death  back  to  that  life  that  wa.s 


106  ESSENTIALS    TO    LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

bestowed  on  Adam  in  Eden.  He  learns  what  the  curse 
on  the  earth  means  and  how  it  is  to  be  removed,  and 
that  earth  once  more  redeemed  from  the  result  of  man's 
sin  shall  be  restored  to  all  its  former  glory  and  beauty 
and  like  other  worlds  reflect  the  glory  of  the  Creator 
eternally  and  become  the  everlasting  home  of  all  the 
saved  ones  of  Adam's  race.  He  will  see  the  time 
revealed  when  every  creature  in  heaven  and  earth  will 
be  heard  saying,  "Blessing  and  glory  and  honor  unto 
him  that  sitteth  on  the  throne  and  unto  the  Lamb  for 
ever  and  ever." 

He  begins  to  grasp  a  sense  of  moral  obligation.  That 
perfect  law  from  Sinai  commands  his  respect.  He 
begins  to  feel  the  importance  of  showing  his  apprecia- 
tion of  the  life  that  now  is  by  trying  to  learn  how  to 
care  for  it  and  make  it  useful  in  the  cause  of  suffering 
humanity.  He  would  learn  to  co-operate  with  his 
Creator.  He  begins  to  speak  in  his  heart  the  blessed 
assurances  of  the  old  Book.  He  can  say  with  the 
Psalmist,  "I  will  praise  Thee  for  I*  am  fearfully  and 
wonderfully  made.  Marvelous  are  Thy  works  and  that 
my  soul  knoweth  right  well."  He  sees  around  him 
men  of  every  class  of  development,  some  base,  some 
pure  and  true,  but  all  imperfect.  He  learns  if  he  would 
be  forgiven  and  fully  accepted  as  a  child  of  God  he 
must  love  his  enemies  and  do  good  to  them  that  hate 
him  and  pray  for  them  that  despitefully  use  him ;  he 
must  forgive  from  the  heart  those  who  trespass  against 
him.  He  must  enter  into  the  experience  of  his 
Heavenly  Father.  This  blessed  condition  comes  to 
him  through  knowledge  of  and  faith  in  that  Son  of 
God  who  was  "in  the  form  of  God"  and  "the  express 
image  of  His  person,"  who  came  to  this  earth  to  repre- 


MENTAL  CAUSES  AND  MENTAL  REMEDIES     107 

sent  the  Creator  to  his  lost  creatures  and  reveal  fully 
the  character  of  God.  He  has  taken  this  Prince  of 
Peace  into  his  confidence  and  like  Paul,  "The  excel- 
lency of  the  knowledge  of  Christ  Jesus"  (Phil.  3:8), 
enables  him  "to  live  the  life  that  he  now  lives  by  the 
faith  of  the  Son  of  God"  (Gal.  2:20).  He  would  come 
into  a  practical  realization  of  the  experience  of  God  in 
dealing  with  sinners.  God  loves  and  forgives.  So 
must  he.  God  pities  and  waits  patiently  and  merci- 
fully for  the  sinner,  trying  to  win  him  back.  So  must 
his  child.  God  hates  sin.  So  must  he.  Such  experi- 
ence brings  him  very  close  to  the  heart  of  the  Heav- 
enly Father.  He  finds  that  an  enemy  is  holding  usurped 
authority  over  earth  for  just  a  brief  time  and  he  learns 
how  to  shun  the  wiles  and  temptations  of  his  kingdom 
by  seeking  strength  from  his  Heavenly  Father  and 
Creator. 

Having  learned  these  important  truths  and  accepted 
them,  he  knows  what  it  is  to  be  in  fellowship  with 
the  Creator  of  the  universe.  His  love  abounds  more 
and  more  toward  this  tender,  loving,  ever  merciful 
God.  W'hat  reverential  holy  fear  beautifies  every  act 
of  his  life.  He  is  loyal  to  the  family  in  Heaven  and 
faithful  toward  the  distracted  family  in  earth.  He 
daily  receives  power  and  wisdom  because  of  his  faith 
and  love  both  from  God's  word  and  from  the  enlight- 
enment of  the  Holy  Spirit  through  the  ministrations 
of  the  heavenly  angels,  to  build  a  character  that  will 
be  fit  for  translation  to  that  kingdom  of  God  which 
will  one  day  again  take  the  place  of  the  enemv's  king- 
dom on  this  earth.  This  character  is  formed  through 
obedience  to  divine  law.  He  has  reached  the  point 
where  spiritual  rest  reigns  supreme  in  his  soul.     His 


108         ESSENTIALS    TO    LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

fellowship  with  the  Creator  has  raised  him  abo\  e  the 
cares  and  perplexities  of  this  life.  He  is  casting  "all 
his  care  upon  God,"  as  he  has  been  invited  to  do.  He 
is  a  stranger  to  doubts  and  fears  and  hates  and  jeal- 
ousies and  envyings  and  remorse.  Pride  and  ambition 
do  not  shape  his  course,  so  he  shuns  the  results  in  his 
physical  being  of  all  these  life  depressing  and  life 
destroying  mental  states.  He  has  none  of  the  physical 
ills  due  to  mental  causes  because  he  has  none  of  the 
causes. 

The  words  of  the  Master  are  fulfilled  in  his  case: 
"If  a  man  love  me  he  will  keep  my  words,  and  my 
Father  will  love  him  and  we  will  come  unto  him  and 
make  our  abode  with  him."  "Christ  is  dwelling  in 
his  heart  by  faith"  and  "The  angel  of  the  Lord  en- 
campeth  round  about  them  that  reverence  him  and  de- 
livereth  them."  Through  faith,  love  and  obedience 
the  elements  of  character  which  constitute  the  life  to 
come  are  being  daily  wrought  into  and  made  a  part 
of-  this  life.  This  is  the  most  interesting  point  in  this 
consideration  of  spiritual  law  in  the  natural  world. 
Through  the  knowledge  of  his  works  and  word  the 
Creator  imparts  to  human  minds,  spiritual  life  and 
power  so  that  the  life  of  God  from  which  men  have 
been  "alienated  through  the  ignorance  that  is  in  them 
because  of  the  blindness  of  their  hearts"  is  actually 
brought  into  the  human  life  through  these  "words  of 
eternal  life"  and  the  "Spirit  becomes  life  because  of 
righteousness."  If  necessary,  He  will,  through  the 
ministration  of  angels,  cause  men  to  hear  words,  "say- 
ing this  is  the  way,  walk  in  it,  when  they  turn  to  the 
right  or  the  left."  And  all  these  ministrations  of  in- 
struction  impart   the  eternal   life   to   dying   men.      So 


MENTAL  CAUSES  AND  MENTAL  REMEDIES     109 

that  what  would  otherwise  have  been  death  without  a 
waking  becomes  only  a  moment  of  sleep  from  which 
the  faithful  one  awakens  to  immortal  life.  Thus  has 
"He  abolished  death  and  brought  life  and  immortality 
to  light  through  the  gospel."  This  result  is  attained 
through  that  Spiritual  Rest  and  fellowship. 

Another  Illustration. 

A  faithful  father  sees  the  danger  of  his  daughter 
who  has  fallen  into  company  with  a  gay  deceiver.  He 
writes  her  words  of  warning  in  which  he  pours  out 
all  the  wealth  of  his  affections  and  fatherly  care.  The 
young  lady  remembers  her  father's  faithfulness  to- 
ward her  all  through  the  past  years  and  the  spirit  of 
fellowship  between  them  through  that  letter  conveys 
his  very  mind  and  character  into  her  innermost  soul. 
She  knows  her  father  now  as  she  has  not  known  him 
before.  She  listens  to  that  spirit  of  saving  grace 
which  inspired  his  communication  and  is  rescued  from 
danger.  So  God,  the  Creator,  sends  spiritual  life  and 
power  through  his  word  and  through  his  works,  for 
"The  heavens  declare  the  glory  of  God,"  and  the  very 
life  and  character  of  God  are  expressed  in  human  lan- 
guage and  this  language  is  taken  by  the  faithful  child 
and  changed  back  into  character  in  himself  through 
loving  obedience,  and  he  becomes  a  partaker,  yea,  a 
possessor,  of  the  eternal  life.  Thus  man  receives  life 
and  spiritual  power  right  here  and  now.  How  God  can 
do  this  is  no  more  mysterious  than  how  he  can  send 
physical  power  in  the  law  of  gravitation  to  keep  all 
the  worlds  of  his  universe  in  their  appointed  places,  or 
how  he  can  use  sunlight,  air  and  water  to  impart 
physical  energy  to  the  trees  and  plants  to  rear  them- 


no         ESSENTIAtvS    TO    LIFE    AND    HEALTB 

selves  heavenward  against  the  law  of  gravity  and 
resist  the  wind  forces  that  the  same  sunlight  sets  in 
operation.  We  have  said,  "Physical  power  in  the  law 
of  gravitation."  But  what  right  have  we  to  call  it 
physical?  Does  it  not  extend  outside  and  beyond  all 
the  power  of  physical  appreciation?  Can  it  be  meas- 
ured or  grasped  by  physical  sense  alone?  It  is  said  that 
"He  upholds  all  things  by  the  word  of  His  power." 
Heb.  1 :3.  Is  not  this  mighty  unseen,  untiring  crea- 
tive, energy  as  much  spiritual  as  anything  the  human 
mind  can  conceive?  Here  again  we  may  look  down 
upon  the  natural  world  from  the  invisible  yet  sub- 
stantial heights  of  spiritual  law. 

This  fellowship,  this  interchange  of  affection  and 
confidence  which  links  man  with  Divinity  and  makes 
him  capable  of  loving  obedience  to  both  the  moral 
and  natural  law  is  no  more  mysterious  than  are  the 
workings  of  natural  law  all  about  us  every  day.  As 
creative  power  causes  new  buds  and  blossoms  to  spring 
forth  from  the  plant,  so  this  same  power  emanating 
from  the  Creator  causes  new  thoughts  and  aspirations 
and  hopes  and  joys  to  generate  in  human  hearts  and 
minds  and  causes  spiritual  growths  that  are  more  real 
and  lasting  than  the  natural  growths,  for  these  are 
perishable  while  those  will,  through  the  resurrection 
be  made  to  endure  unto  life  eternal. 

This  line  of  thought  reveals  fully  in  outline  how 
spiritual  rest  through  divine  fellowship  saves  men 
from  the  troubles  of  this  life  and  gives  them  all  that 
there  is  here  that  is  worth  having  and  actually  brings 
into  this  life  the  very  foundation  of  the  life  to  come  by 
which  the  two  worlds  make  a  "good  splice"  and  man 
can  rejoice  in  the  truth  of  the  "Record  that  God  hath 


MENTAL  CAUSES  AND  MENTAL,  REMEDIES     111 

given  to  us  eternal  life  and  this  life  in  His  Son.  He 
that  hath  the  Son  hath  life,  and  he  that  hath  not  the 
Son  of  God  hath  not  life."  I  Jno.  5:11,  12. 

God  will  work  miracles  for  such  a  man.  Indeed  in 
his  case  there  would  be  but  few  things  beside  acci- 
dents that  would  have  to  be  provided  for  miraculously, 
for  "the  angel  of  the  Lord  encampeth  round  about 
them  that  fear  him  and  delivereth  them."  Ps.  34:7. 

This  kind  of  character  will  have  respect  for  natural 
and  moral  law  to  the  very  minutiae,  not  from  a  stern 
sense  of  duty,  but  from  a  sense  of  love  and  gratitude. 
Was  it  hard  work  and  did  you  have  to  try  to  love  a 
kind,  faithful  mother  or  father?  "Like  as  a  father 
pitieth  his  children  so  Jehovah  pitieth  them  that  fear 
(reverence)  him  for  he  knoweth  our  frame;  he  re- 
membereth  we  are  but  dust."  "Bless  Jehovah,  O  my 
soul,  and  forget  not  all  his  benefits  who  forgiveth  all 
thine  iniquities,  who  healeth  all  thy  diseases,  who  re- 
deemeth  thy  life  from  destruction,  wdio  crowneth  thee 
with  loving  kindness  and  tender  mercies,  who  satis- 
fieth  thy  desire  with  good  things  so  that  thy  youth  is 
renewed  like  the  eagle."  Ps.  103.  2-5  Am.  Rev. 

Instinctive  obedience  to  natural  law  keeps  wild 
birds  and  beasts  in  health  till  old  age  or  accident  takes 
them  away.  No  Christian  is  required  to  do  more  than 
obey.  So  loving,  trusting  obedience  on  man5  part  will 
bring  the  blessing — the  lifting  of  the  curse — for  every 
soul  of  man  if  he  wills  to  have  it  so  done  for  him. 
No  man  nor  woman  nor  any  class  of  men  nor  any 
church  has  any  proprietary  claim  over  these  privileges. 
The  benighted  heathen  in  Africa,  or  China,  or  Asia,  or 
the  enlightened  heathens  in  Europe  and  America  can 
all  of  them  approach  the  Creator  if  they  will,  and  be- 


112  ESSENTIALS    TO    LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

come  partakers  of  these  inestimable  privileges.  All 
that  is  necessary  to  make  a  man  a  heathen  is  to  have 
him  forget  the  Creator;  and  all  that  it  takes  to  ennoble 
and  elevate  man  is  to  have  him  come  into  fellowship 
with  this  loving  tender  Heavenly  Father.  And  the 
way  is  open  to  all  if  they  will.  "Thus  saith  Jehovah, 
In  returning  and  rest  ye  shall  be  saved.  In  quietness 
and  confidence  shall  be  your  strength ;  but  ye  would 
not."  Isa.  30:15.  He  announces  Himself  as  ready  and 
waiting  to  help  those  who  appreciate  His  aid.  "I'^or 
the  eyes  of  Jehovah  run  to  and  fro  throughout  the 
whole  earth  to  show  himself  strong  in  the  behalf  of 
them  whose  heart  is  perfect  toward  him."  H  Chron. 
16:9.  Some  of  the  conditions  on  which  he  stands  ready 
to  help  are  stated  in  Isaiah,  "Thou  wilt  keep  him  in 
perfect  peace  whose  mind  is  stayed  on  Thee  because 
he  trusteth  in  Thee."  Isa.  26:3.  "Is  not  this  the  fast 
that  I  have  chosen;  to  loose  the  bands  of  wickedness, 
to  undo  the  heavy  burdens  and  to  let  the  oppressed  go 
free  and  that  ye  break  every  yoke.  Is  it  not  to  deal 
thy  bread  to  the  hungry  and  that  thou  bring  the  poor 
that  are  cast  out  to  thy  house?  When  thou  seest  the 
naked  thai  thni  cover  him,  and  that  thou  hide  not 
thyself  from  thine  own  flesh?  Then  shall  thy  light 
break  forth  as  the  morning  and  thy  healing  shall  spring 
forth  speedily  and  thy  righteousness  shall  go  before 
thee  and  the  glory  of  the  Lord  shall  be  thy  rearward." 
Tsa.  58:6-9.   (Am.  Revision). 

The  man  who  has  sought  and  accepted  the  privileges 
and  attainments  of  spiritual  rest,  will  not  have  dys- 
pepsia, he  will  "eat  in  due  season  for  strength  and  not 
for  drunkenness."  Eccl.  10:17.  He  can  say  with  the 
Psalmist,  "I  will  both  lay  me  down  in  peace  and  sleep 


MENTAL  CAUSES  AND  MENTAL  REMEDIES     113 

for  thou  Lord  only  niakest  me  to  dwell  in  safety."  Ps. 
4:8.  If  any  physical  cause  of  trouble  arises  the  "Gifts 
of  Healings"  are  at  his  command.  He  will  inquire  dili- 
gently of  his  Heavenly  Father  and  will  receive  en- 
lightenment through  the  gifts  that  God  hath  set  in 
the  church  and  get  an  answer  of  peace.  He  will  not 
knowingly  neglect  to  keep  in  right  relationship  to 
those  things  on  which  life  depends.  He  will  be  a 
humble  man,  meek  and  teachable,  ready  to  receive  as 
well  as  to  impart. 

You  will  not  hear  him  bragging  of  his  relationship 
with  the  God  of  heaven.  He  will  invent  no  great 
swelling  words  or  forms  of  expression  nor  will  it  be 
necessary  for  him  to  appeal  to  occultism  to  make  him- 
self and  his  relations  to  the  Creator  clear  to  his  fel- 
low men,  nor  will  he  announce  himself  as  ready  to  dis- 
pense the  grace  of  God  for  gold.  His  motto  will  be 
■'freely  ye  have  received,  freely  give."  Nor  will  he 
imdertake  to  make  the  afflicted  ones  believe  that  he 
can  dispense  the  ministrations  of  life  to  them  when 
he  is  absent,  thus  attempting  to  put  himself  in  the 
place  of  the  ministration  of  angels.  Instead  of  calling 
attention  to  himself  he  will  labor  to  get  men  acquainted 
with  the  Creator,  through  his  works,  and  through 
his  Word,  through  natural  law  and  through  moral 
law,  and  through  the  Gospel  plan  of  Salvation  as  re- 
vealed in  the  life  of  Christ  and  in  the  lives  of  holy 
men  of  old.  There  will  be  no  spirit  of  "self  salvation" 
in  his  system  of  theology.  He  knows  too  well  the 
weakness  of  humanity.  He  knows  that  no  stream  can 
rise  higher  than  its  fountain  so  he  seeks  to  the  One 
"with  whom  is  the  fountain  of  Life"  and  labors  t<> 
lead  all  others  to  this  fountain. 


114  ESSENTIALS    TO    LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

All  these  ideal  excellencies  may  not  at  once  appear 
in  the  life  of  any  imperfect  human  being  but  there  will 
be  a  rapid  approximation  toward  these  attainments. 
Such  characters  will  make  up  the  constituency  of  the 
kingdom  of  heaven.  The  census  of  that  kingdom  is 
now  being  prepared  and  there  are  men  and  women 
here  on  the  stage  of  action  today  who  are  laboring 
unselfishly  as  co-workers  with  the  Man  of  Nazareth 
and  whose  names  are  written  in  the  Book  of  Life. 

The  man  who  has  attained  to  this  spiritual  rest  will 
be  free  from  the  control  of  the  adverse  mental  states 
which  lead  to  disease  and  death.  He  will  have  his 
mental  and  moral  store  house  full  of  courage  and  hope 
and  cheerfulness.  The  worry  and  anxiety  and  wear- 
ing cares  of  this  world  will  not  prevail  in  his  soul. 
He  "knows  that  all  things  work  together  for  good  to 
them  who  love  God,  who  are  the  called  according  to 
his  purpose."  Rom.  8:28.  This  man  will  have  not 
much  need  for  the  doctor  or  for  medicines.  But  the 
doctor  may  have  need"  to  call  him  to  go  and  pray  with 
some  desponding  patient  and  speak  words  of  comfort 
and  life  to  him.  If  there  were  a  few  true  men  and 
women  of  this  class  in  every  community  they  would 
be  appreciated.  Thank  God  there  are  some  of  this 
class  in  the  world.  Reader,  shall  there  not  be  more 
and  will  not  you  be  one  of  them?  What  nobler  calling 
can  there  be  than  ministering  life  to  dying  despondent 
humanity? 

Partial  and  Counterfeit  Applications  of  the  Law  of 
Rest. 

In  the  first  part  of  this  chapter  we  spoke  of  some 
who  were  making  use  of  the  Law  of  Rest  without  us- 


MENTAL  CAUSES  AND  MENTAL  REMEDIES     115 

ing  the  term,  Law  of  Rest,  or  few,  if  any,  expressions 
of  truth  that  belong  to  it.  This  may  be  done  by  in- 
spiring confidence  and  hope  and  courage  in  human 
assurances,  or  by  any  system  of  mental  diversion, 
through  curiosity  or  mysticism,  or  by  means  of  mirth- 
fulness,  or  any  thing  by  which  the  mind  may  be  drawn 
from  its  depressing  moods.  A  journey  among  new 
scenes,  a  sea  voyage,  intercourse  with  pleasant  society, 
will  bring  peace  and  rest  through  forgetfulness  of  the 
troublesome,  disagreeable,  health  destroying  thoughts 
that  have  stolen  in. 

Some  modern  systems  of  healing  are  using  some  of 
these  means  of  diversion  and  are  accomplishing  some 
very  wonderful  cures.  We  say  wonderful  because 
the  people  are  so  much  in  the  dark  about  the  Law  of 
Rest  that  they  are  ready  to  wonder  at  the  simplest 
results  of  its  application,  especially  when  secured  in 
an  occult  manner.  Nearly  every  one  of  these  systems 
of  cure  has  some  marked  phase  of  religion  connected 
with  it.  Now  anything  or  any  system  that  can  gen- 
erate confidence  or  faith  or  trust  in  something,  no  mat- 
ter what  it  is,  will  obtain  at  least  temporary  results. 
It  is  the  faith  that  cures.  So  far  as  temporary  re- 
sults are  concerned  it  matters  little  whether  the  mind 
rests  on  the  Laws  of  Nature  or  a  pleasing  lie,  or  a 
heathen  joss,  the  rest  brings  relief  to  ailments  due  to 
mental  causes  by  bringing  in  a  sort  of  peace.  This 
enables  us  to  perceive  clearly  that  there  must  be 
gradations  in  the  application  of  the  Law  of  Rest. 

Three  Great  Systems  of  Mind  Cure. 

It  is  impossible  to  properly  treat  the  Law  of  Rest 
and  show   its   workings   in   the   world   today  without 


116  ESSENTIALS    TO    LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

calling  by  name  three  great  systems  of  Psycho- 
Therapy.  It  is  only  done  here  that  the  truth  may  ap- 
pear on  this  great  subject  of  mind  cure  as  seen  in  the 
workings  of  the  Law  of  Rest.  The  three  we  shall 
name  are  "Christian  Science,"  "New  Thought,"  and 
"The  Emanuel  Movement."  These  systems  are  as 
nearly  alike  as  three  peas.  One  may  be  yellow,  an- 
other speckled,  and  another  green,  but  they  are  all 
peas.  They  are  fundamentally  alike  though  on  the 
surface  so  apparently  different.  Beside  these  there  are 
a  host  of  individual  healers  and  some  lesser  systems. 
All  these,  or  nearly  all,  agree  on  three  points;  first, 
they  have  wandered  far  and  wide  from  all  knowledge 
of  a  personal  God;  second,  they  do  not  believe  in  the 
inspiration  of  the  Bible,  but  third,  they  are  all  divine 
healers ;  that  is,  they  are  all  doing  the  same  kind 
of  work  that  Jesus  of  Nazareth  did  in  Judea.  This  is 
what  they  claim.  And  yet,  strange  to  say,  they  are 
entirely  out  of  fellowship  with  one  another  and  do 
not  hesitate  to  use  other  than  endearing  terms  when 
they  mention  their  rivals  in  this  field.  They  all  have 
practically  the  same  attenuated,  ethereal,  Pantheistic 
idea  of  Deity.  Each  of  them  uses  such  portions  of  the 
Bible  as  please  them  and  throw  the  rest  aside  as  rub- 
bish. All  of  them  indulge,  some  more  some  less,  in 
great  swelling  words  and  forms  of  expression  which 
are  called  scientific.  With  this  enough  of  mysticism 
and  the  occult  are  interwoven  to  produce  in  most  senti- 
mental emotional  minds  the  genuine  enchantment  of 
ancient  times.  There  is  a  sleight  of  mind  perform- 
ance which  in  the  mind  of  the  disciple  converts  the 
simplest  results  of  natural  rest  into  marvelous  cases 
of  Divine  healim^f.     There  exists  in  the  minds  of  the 


MlCNTAlv  CAUSES  AND  MENTAL  REMEDIES     117 

average  human  beings  a  hazy  undefined  notion  that 
whatever  cures  are  produced  by  anything  but  physical 
means  must  be  divine.  This  is  what  makes  possible 
the  enchantment  of  these  modern  systems.  They  use 
mind  cure  and  palm  it  off  for  divine  healing,  because 
the  people  do  not  understand  the  law^s  of  mind  cure 
which  is  part  of  the  Law  of  Rest. 

You  may  have  been  taught  from  childhood  to  be- 
lieve in  a  Creator.  When  you  see  some  of  the  mar- 
velous things  being  accomplished  about  you,  you 
naturally  connect  them  with  this  Creator.  But  bear 
in  mind  two  things,  first,  that  these  modern  systems 
all  deny  the  existence  of  a  Divine  personal  Creator; 
second,  that  there  are  forces  working  in  nature  with 
which  you  perhaps  have  never  become  acquainted, 
that  are  more  than  suflficient  to  account  for  all  the 
marvelous  things  you  behold.  If  you  were  to  see  more 
fully  into  some  of  the  relations  of  the  natural  world 
you  would  cease  to  marvel.  The  sleight  of  mind  per- 
formance captivates  you  because  you  do  not  see 
through  and  understand  things.  If  you  did  all  the 
mystery  would  vanish.  Take  that  sleight  of  hand 
trick  which  filled  you  with  such  wonder  and  astonish- 
ment ;  when  you  saw  through  it  how  tame  it  all  be- 
came. So  if  men  knew  more  about  the  workings  of 
natural  law  and  the  workings  of  the  "god  of  this 
world,"  the  spirit  which  now  works  in  the  children  of 
disobedience,  all  the  glamour  and  mysticism  would 
vanish  into  thin  air  and  your  mind,  disenchanted, 
would  be  able  to  see  in  the  old  common  place  truths 
sufficient  to  keep  you  not  only  out  of  mischievous  de- 
ceptions but  to  keep  you  busy  in  the  way  of  life.  If 
you   ask   me   why   so  many  people  are  following  the 


118  ESSENTIALS    TO    LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

new  systems  of  philosophy,  my  reply  is,  Because  there 
are  so  many  people  in  this  world  who  have  nothing 
to  do  but  wonder.  People  who  think  more  and  won- 
der less  are  not  so  liable  to  be  led  far  astray. 

Christian  Science. 

Cures  by  Christian  Science  are  wrought  through  a 
system  of  mental  diversion  or  preoccupation.  Minds 
that  have  been  harrassed  by  doubt  and  fear,  or  re- 
morse, or  anxiety,  or  any  other  depressing  sentiment, 
hear  the  promise  of  cure,  are  attracted  by  it,  get  busy 
studying  its  occult  formulas,  are  astonished  but  not 
shocked  by  its  wonderful  system  of  negations ;  be- 
gin to  believe  its  doctrines  and  forget  their  former 
troubles  and  depressed  moods.  The  body  liberated 
from  its  bondage  goes  free,  life  asserts  itself  and  the 
patient  gets  well,  sometimes  even  of  organic  troubles 
due  to  long  continued  mental  causes.  There  is  noth- 
ing more  divine  or  miraculous  about  this  than  that 
water  will  quench  thirst,  or  fire  warm  the  body,  or  food 
satisfy  the  bodily  hunger.  A  state  of  rest  comes  into 
the  soul  because  the  troubles  are  forgotten.  Anything 
else  which  will  gain  the  attention  of  a  disea.=ed  mind 
and  win  its  confidence  until  nature  can  rally  from 
the  injuries  done  will  accomplish  the  same  thing.  As 
before  said,  a  journey  through  a  now  country,  a  visit 
from  a  loved  and  trusted  friend  who  brings  a  lot  of 
new  thoughts  and  moods,  the  assurances  of  a  good 
physician,  and  a  hundred  other  things  will  work  the 
same  results.  This  application  of  natural  law  even  to 
the  false  assurance  that  you  are  a  part  of  God  should 
never  be  dignified  by  the  name  Divine  Science  for  there 
is   not   a    shadow   of  the   divine   about   it,   more   than 


MENTAL  CAUSES  AND  MENTAL  REMEDIES     11" 

there  is  in  the  law  of  eating.  Mental  aliment  that 
brings  mental  rest  is  the  particular  phase  of  natural 
law  operated.  If  these  scientists  knew  the  limitations 
of  their  power  they  would  not  excite  ridicule  as  they 
now  often  do  by  attempting  the  cure  of  blood  poison- 
ing, typhoid  fever,  smallpox,  cancer  and  other  malig- 
nant diseases  without  other  than  mental  remedies. 
They  ignore  entirely  the  application  of  all  other  rem- 
edies, make  light  of  the  laws  of  nature  and  still  blindly 
and  courageously  trample  their  failures  under  foot 
by  ascribing  all  the  blame  to  the  patient  because  he 
did  not  surrender  his  mind  fully  and  get  in  touch  with 
their  metaphysical  idea  of  God. 

An  Anecdote. 

The  limitations  of  Christian  Science  are  well  illus- 
trated by  the  story  of  a  Christian  Science  mother  and 
her  little  boy  who  were  going  through  a  pasture  lot 
where  were  some  cattle.  The  bull,  seeing  little 
Johnnie's  red  jacket,  began  to  paw  and  bellow  and 
come  toward  them.  Johnnie  showed  great  signs  of  fear 
and  began  to  hinder  progress  by  pulling  at  his  mother's 
dress.  The  mother  said:  "Johnnie,  just  remember 
that  your  mother  is  a  Christian  Science  woman  and 
that  you  are  a  little  Christian  Science  man,  that  bull 
won't  hurt  us."  Johnnie  said,  very  excitedly :  "Yes, 
mamma,  I  know  you're  Christian  Science  and  I  know 
I'm  Christian  Science,  but  I  don't  believe  that  bull's 
found  it  out  yet."  There  are  a  lot  of  tape  worms 
and  body  parasites  beside  some  incurable  diseases 
that  have  not  yet  found  out  the  power  of  Christian 
Science,  and  never  will. 

P)Ut   the   Christian   Scientist   can   trulv    sav,  "TIumo- 


120  ESSENTIALS    TO    LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

fore,  having  by  denial,  freed  myself  from  all  sense  of 
sin,  and  all  responsibility  for  it  and  all  fear  of  a  future 
judgment,  I  have  peace  with  myself  through  Christian 
Science."  And  this  peace  brings  cure  for  a  lot  of 
trouble  due  to  fear  and  worry,  but  will  not  in  any 
way  atone  for  the  violations  of  the  laws  of  sunlight, 
air,  water,  food,  or  clothing.  And  they  are  not  in- 
sensible to  bee  stings  and  never  will  be  till  physically 
dead.  ' 

Are  these  people  sincere?  Most  assuredly  they 
are.  It  is  not  men's  motives  we  are  dealing  with 
but  the  applications  of  the  Law  of  Rest.  The  fascina- 
tion of  the  mysterious,  and  the  undefined  idea  that 
whatever  is  accomplished  by  other  than  visible  means 
must  be  from  the  Divine,  prevails  everywhere  and 
these  people  are  no  different  from  others.  The  re- 
sult is  that  whatever  is  accomplished  is  taken  as  evi- 
dence, that  every  Christian  Science  doctrine  is  true, 
because  they  suppose  that  the  cures  grow  out  of  the 
doctrine  instead  of  resulting  from  the  state  of  rest 
and  temporary  peace  that  has  been  brought  into  the 
soul  by  this  system  of  mental  diversion.  Other  faiths 
and  doctrines  could  accomplish  the  same  results  if 
their  adherents  would  awaken  expectation  and  stimu- 
late cheerfulness  and  courage  and  hope  by  putting 
more  assurance  into  their  work.  Indeed  this  same 
kind  of  work  has  been  going  on  in  a  quiet  unob- 
trusive way  during  at  least  the  last  fifty  years.  Physi- 
cians have  used  it,  and  ministers  have  used  it,  and 
priests  have  used  it,  and  the  friends  of  the  sick  have 
used  it,  and  many  a  soul  has  been  saved  from  pre- 
mature death  just  by  the  hope  and  cheer  that  has 
come    from    getting   the   thoughts    diverted    from    the 


MENTAL  CAUSES  AND  MENTAL  REMEDIES     121 

depressing  topics  that  had  pulled  it  down.     But  there 
has  been   no   flourish  of  trumpets   over   these   cases. 
They  were  such  natural  results  that  no  one  of  repute 
has  thought  to  make  himself  famous  by  proclaiming 
them  as  divine,  and  that  he  had  the  exclusive  agency 
for  dispensing  such  healing  power.     Take  away  the 
fascination  of  the  mysterious  sleight  of  mind  perform- 
ance which  converts  the  results  of  the  application  of  the 
natural    Law  of   Rest   into    Divine    Healing  and   the 
soul   of  the   Christian   Science    system   has   departed. 
There  is  enough  of  novelty  and  mystery  in  the  con- 
fusion of  sentiments  in  this  amplified  system  of  nega- 
tions to  occupy  almost  any  human  mind  for  a  long 
time.     Minds  that  like  something  vapory  and  etherial 
will   find  abundant  food   for   wonderment,   while   the 
matter  of  fact  people  who  are  led  chiefly  by  reason 
and  judgment  will  find  it  much  harder  to  accept  this 
philosophy  than  to  believe  the  "unexplained"  truth  as 
found  in  the  old  Bible.    A  man  may  have  this  system 
inculcated   fully   into   his   life   and   yet   know   nothing 
of  that  spiritual   rest   that   comes   from   full   spiritual 
fellowship   with   the   personal   Creator.     A   man   may 
talk  "Christ"  and  "truth"  and  "love"  and  "life"  and 
the  "allness  of  God"  and  heal  the  sick  and  yet  not  be 
acquainted   with   that   personal   Savior  who  now  sits 
at  the  right  hand  of  his  personal  Father  in  the  Heav- 
enly Sanctuary.    Heb.  8:1,2.     A  man  may  trust  in  all 
the   mere   spiritual   forces   that   the   human   mind   can 
conceive,   apart    from   a   personal   God,   and   yet   be   a 
worshipper  of  Beelzebub.     Trusting  in  divine  power 
and    so-called    "truth"   apart   from    a   personal   knowl- 
edge of  the  Creator  will  save  no  man.     There  is  but 
one  thing  that   will  do  awav   with   "Old   Beliefs"  and 


122  ESSENTIALS    TO    LIFE     AND    HEALTH 

"Errors  of  IvI'^rtal  Mind"  for  the  Christian  Scientist, 
or  with  sin  and  all  its  consequences  for  other  people; 
but  a  personal  loving  acquaintance  with  the  Creator 
and  His  Son  Jesus.  Trying  to  find  lasting  permanent 
rest  in  the  god  of  Modern  Metaphysics  is  like  trying  to 
build  3^our  house  on  a  fogbank  or  climb  an  imaginary 
rope  ladder  to  the  moon.  You  can  imagine  and  dream 
about  it  until  your  distressed  mind  and  heart  have  be- 
come rested  from  the  wretchedness  of  former  troubles 
and  your  body  has  in  a  measure  risen  above. the  de- 
pressions of  mental  causes,  but  you  will  waken  to 
find  that  self  salvation  is  a  failure  and  you  still  need 
the  comfort  and  strength  of  a  real  Heavenly  Father. 
There  can  be  nothing  Divine  about  a  system  that  has 
no  Divine  personal  being  connected  with  it.  Even  di- 
vine truth,  apart  from  the  ministrations  of  its  Author 
can  impart  nothing  divine  to  any  human  character  or 
any  human  system.  It  will  take  something  more  than 
spiritualistic  etherealism,  something  more  than  a  Pan- 
theistic basis  to  build  a  foundation  for  Divine  spiritual 
rest.  The  God  of  Christian  Science  is  an  ethereal, 
mystical  creation  of  the  human  imagination  inspired 
by  the  "god  of  this  w^orld." 

An  Inspiration. 

4 

There  is  an  inspiration  in  Christian  Science,  but  it 
cannot  be  the  inspiration  that  is  in  the  Bible  because 
most  of  its  explanations  of  that  book  are  either  open 
flat  denials  or  complete  substitutions,  so  that  the  old 
book  is  completely  set  aside.  How  can  the  same 
spirit  be  in  both?  Pretending  to  be  a  new  light,  it 
i:)linds  the  minds  of  its  disciples  to  the  real  light  of  the 
world  and  makes  its  own  darkness  appear  to  be  light 


MENTAL  CAUSES  AND  MENTAL  REMEDIES     123 

by  holding-  its  own  mystical  kaleidoscope  before  their 
eyes.  The  changes  come  so  rapidly  that  the  mind  is 
dazzled  with  a  new  mixture  of  coloring.  The  vision 
which  perhaps  did  not  want  to  bear  the  clear  light  of 
heaven  is  pleased  with  the  new  color  changes  and 
combinations  and  so  affected  by  them  that  it  seldom 
or  never  again  can  bear  the  clear  light. 

The  writer  predicts  a  change  in  the  doctrines  of 
Christian  Science,  not  long  hence.  They  will  adopt 
the  laws  of  nature  as  a  part  of  their  system.  They 
will  advocate  a  right  relationship  to  sunlight,  air, 
water,  food,  clothing  and  exercise.  These,  like  the 
natural  Law  of  Rest,  will  yet  be  woven  into  their 
system  of  Therapeutics,  for  the  system  cannot  long 
survive  without  some  tangible  basis,  when  once  fully 
exposed  to  the  light. 

New  Thought. 

What  has  been  said  of  the  fundamental  principles 
of  Christian  Science  might  also  be  said  of  this  philoso- 
phy. It  has  a  sort  of  evolutionary  idea  of  God.  \\)- 
parently  about  all  the  God  there  is,  is  the  human 
mind  or  soul  and  its  better  sentiments  and  aspirations. 
It  is  an  ethereal  idea  of  God  that  is  very  hard  to  gras]). 
This  philosophy  has  started  out  to  teach  men  antl 
women  how  to  save  themselves  and  keep  themselves 
happy. 

It  employs  a  lot  of  good  Hygienic  sense  at  some 
points,  making  quite  good  provisions  for  physical 
health.  It  deals  with  mankind  in  its  relations  to  n:i 
ture  and  one  another.  The  Creator  is  fully  set  aside. 
The  effect  of  their  work  would  be  to  till  the  world 
with    a   happy  lot   of  orphans. 


124  ESSENTIALS    TO    LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

New  Thought  would  haye  us  believe  that  mind 
creates  the  body.  If  this  were  true  then  the  girl 
with  a  lop  ear  or  one  who  wanted  a  dimple,  or  the 
young  man  with  a  pug  nose  would  onl}^  have  to  con- 
centrate the  mind  on  the  part  to  be  changed  and  earn- 
estly "will"  that  the  change  be  made  and  their  heart's 
desire  would  be  granted ;  and  he  who  wanted  to  add 
one  cubit  to  his  stature  could  "by  taking  thought" 
easily  accomplish  the  task.  Many  cures  are  claimed 
by  this  cult,  all  of  which  can  be  traced  directly  to  the 
Law  of  Rest.  The  correction  of  ordinary  eye  troubles 
is  one  of  their  fortes.  Take  the  one  who  is  worn  and 
worried  and  really  nervously  sick  and  compelled  to 
wear  glasses.  When  the  worry  is  left  out  and  the 
mind  comes  to  a  state  of  rest  through  the  assurance 
of  these  healers,  the  health  improves,  the  nervous  sys- 
tem becomes  stronger  and  is  able  to  overcome  without 
difficulty  any  ordinary  defect  in  the  cornea  or  lens  and 
keep  it  up  for  years.  The  writer  has  known  a  man 
in  ordinary  health  to  overcome  four  diopeters  of  cor- 
neal astigmatism  till  he  was  fifty  years  old,  without 
any  apparent  effect  on  his  health,  while  one  half  a 
diopeter  of  the  same  trouble  in  a  feeble,  nervous  pa- 
tient would  have  made  her  thoroughly  sick.  There  is 
nothing  marvelous  to  the  trained  optician  in  such  cases. 
A  strong  nervous  system  controls  and  overcomes 
bodily  imperfections.  The  mind  does  not  create  any 
thing  bnt  conditions  of  rest;  and  rest  works  the  relief 
through  increased  power  to  control. 

Like  the  Christian  Scientist  the  New  Thought  dis- 
ciple knows  nothing  of  the  fellowship  with  the  Creator, 
because  he  denies  the  existence  of  a  personal  God. 
They  have  a  flippant  way  of  casting  aside  everything 


MENTAL  CAUSES  AND  MENTAL  REMEDIES     12,- 

in  the  Bible  that  does  not  suit  them  and  yet  they 
talk  about  Christ  as  "the  Master."  This  is  just  the 
philosophy  for  those  who  despise  the  Creator,  hate 
the  moral  restraints  of  the  Bible,  and  are  out  of  all 
harmony  with  the  doctrines  of  the  old  theology. 

It  is  one  thing  to  talk  or  write  eloquently  of  being 
'"in  tune  with  the  infinite"  power  of  the  universe,  and 
quite  another  thing  to  know  and  be  in  harmony  with 
the  Creator.  To  enjoy  all  the  works  of  God  and  feel 
at  home  in  this  world  does  not  make  one  a  child  of 
God.  We  may,  by  denial,  forget  Him,  but  that  does 
not  dethrone  Him.  We  may  cast  aside  his  moral 
law,  but  that  does  not  destroy  our  obligations.  And 
we  may  be  in  just  this  attitude  toward  Him  and  yet 
feel  such  a  confidence  in  ourselves  and  in  our  natural 
surroundings  as  to  bring  a  sort  of  peace  in  the  soul 
and  we  as  a  result  rise  superior  to  most  of  those  ills 
which  are  due  to  mental  causes,  and  in  a  measure  be 
"in  tune  with  the  infinite"  in  nature. 

They  have  a  method  very  similar  to  Christian  Scien- 
tists in  disposing  of  sin,  guilt  and  responsibility.  Chris- 
tian Science  denies  the  existence  of  these  things.  New- 
Thought  says  that  "sin  is  only  undeveloped  good." 
This  rolls  a  weigh*  of  burden  from  the  conscience- 
smitten  soul.  So  all  the  atonement  you  need  you 
can  make  for  yourself  as  in  Christian  Science.  And 
as  in  the  ancient  systems  of  philosophy,  you  need  no 
Creator.'  Your  system  of  mind  creation  and  self  sal- 
vation is  all-sufficient  for  you.  You  do  not  need  for- 
giveness; you  will  have  nothing  to  answer  for  in  the 
day  of  judgment  for  there  will  be  no  judgment.  And 
yet  these  people  would  have  you  think  that  they  art- 
doing  the  same  identical  work  done  by  Jesus  of  Na/ 


126  ESSENTIAr.S    TO    LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

areth  in  Old  Judea.  It  is  only  ignorance  of  the  Scrip- 
tures, or  a  desire  for  an  easier  way,  or  a  heart  out  of 
harmony  with  Divine  restraints  that  can  make  this 
philosophy  desirable. 

They  tell  us  "no  faith  is  required."  "You  do  not 
have  to  believe  anything,"  and  yet  I  observe  that  its 
advocates  labor  with  might  and  main  to  get  the  people 
to  believe  all  that  they  tell  them. 

This  system  is  also  a  system  of  negation  and  is 
quite  assuring  to  many  who  have  gotten  entirely  out 
of  touch  with  the  theology  of  our  times,  especially 
those  who  have  sprung  from  the  old  following  of 
Spiritism.  One  who  believes  this  philosophy  is  en- 
abled to  cease  his  worrying  and  fretting  and  live  a  life 
of  indifference  to  the  future.  This  assurance  and  these 
mental  changes  do  bring  physical  relief  for  a  host 
of  ills.  The  Law  of  Rest  does  its  work  for  these 
philosophers  just  the  same  as  for  others  just  because 
it  is  a  law  of  nature  and  if  it  is  obeyed  the  results  are 
sure.  What  if  they  do  not  accomplish  half  they  set 
out  to?  As  in  the  case  of  Christian  Science,  the  people 
believe  that  the  results  they  see  prove  the  truth  of  the 
philosophy.  They  secure  a  following  and  keep  men 
from  knowing  the  Creator.  There'is  an  inspiration  in 
these  systems  that  is  hard  for  one  unacquainted  with 
the  word  of  the  Creator  to  understand.  He  who  knows 
the  Bible  and  is  acquainted  with  the  God  of  heaven 
can  see  the  contrast  between  it  and  the  inspiration  of 
that  Word. 

New  Thought  teachers  are  strong  advocates  of  the 
Laws  of  Life  in  dietetic  and  other  lines  of  reform. 
This  helps  them  greatly  in  the  Law  of  Rest,  as  tem- 
perance and  vegetarianism  are  a  great  aid  in  working 


MENTAL  CAUSES  AND  MENTAL,  REMEDIES     J27 

nervous  disturbances  out  of  the  body.  But  their  claim 
that  there  is  no  reason  why  men  should  not  now 
live  to  be  a  thousand  years  old  will  never  recommend 
their  philosophy  very  highly  to  people  of  cool,  clear 
minds.  They  ignore  entirely  the  fact  that  the  curse 
pronounced  for  sin  put  death  into  the  very  things  on 
which    life   depends. 

One  cannot  help  thinking  that  this  system  of  philos- 
ophy, like  the  others,  is  the  result  of  an  effort  to  find 
something  that  would  please  the  human  mind  rather 
than  an  effort  to  bring  the  human  mind  to  appreciate 
and  believe  those  truths  which  have  stood  the  test 
of  ages.  If  their  system  does  bring  a  sort  of  rest  to 
those  who  like  it,  and  this  rest  in  connection  with  the 
Laws  of  Life  brings  a  fair  degree  of  health,  it  is  no 
evidence  that  there  is  a  true  foundation  to  the  sys- 
tem. It  only  proves  again  what  rest  will  do,  no  mat- 
ter how  it  is  obtained.  Stolen  rest,  like  stolen  money, 
will  pass  current  almost  anywhere  and  purchase  any- 
thing as  well  as  money  truly  earned.  And  counterfeit 
money  will  buy  good  things  wherever  and  as  long  as 
it  will  pass. 

The  Emanuel  Movement. 

The  Emanuel  Movement  is  using  suggestion  and 
hypnotism  in  addition  to  the  use  of  visible  means 
through  application  of  natural  laws  and  the  use  of 
medicine.  It  does  not  openly  claim  to  be  divine,  but 
does  hold  that  it  is  the  same  kind  of  healing  as  the 
Master  practiced  while  here  among  men,  hence  the 
people  cannot  help  but  regard  it  as  a  kind  of  Divine 
Healing.    No  visible  means  is  employed  in  many  cases, 


128  ESSENTIALS    TO    LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

hence  it  must  he  (li\  ine.     This  is  the  natural  conclu- 
sion. 

Suggestion. 

We  cannot  regard  this  as  anything  new,  for  sugges- 
tion is  as  old  as  the  Bible,  which  is  full  of  it.  Every 
hopeful  promise  and  every  statement,  designed  to 
encourage  and  strengthen  frail  humanity,  is  sugges- 
tion pure  and  unadulterated.  The  Scripture  promises 
are  ideal  forms  of  suggestive  expression.  Was  ever 
anything  more  comforting  than  the  words  of  Jesus, 
"Come  unto  me,  all  ye  that  labor  and  are  heavy  laden, 
and  I  will  give  you  rest.  Take  my  yoke  upon  you 
and  learn  of  me;  for  I  am  meek  and  lowly  in  heart: 
and  ye  shall  find  rest  to  your  souls.  For  my  yoke  is 
easy  and  my  burden  is  light."  Matt.  11:28.  This 
suggestion  is  from  the  Creator  himself.  "For  by  him 
(Christ)  were  all  things  created  that  are  in  heaven  and 
that  are  in  earth,  visible  and  invisible."  Col.  1  :16. 
Here  is  rest,  unqualified  rest ;  spiritual  rest,  mental 
rest,  natural  rest,  physical  rest.  Can  mortal  man  im- 
prove upon  this?  Can  he  duplicate  it?  He  cannot  pre- 
sent any  promise  of  more  than  finite  worth  while  this 
is  infinite.  True  suggestion  must  be  drawn  from  the 
Bible.  There  is  no  other  fountain.  Men  may  think 
they  have  got  something  new,  but  if  it  is  true  you 
will  find  it  among  the  Creator's  suggestions.  Here 
is  another :  "The  God  nf  Jacob  is  thy  refuge ;  under- 
neath are  the  everlasting  arms."  Deut.  33:27.  You 
can  scarcely  turn  a  page  of  this  old  book,  if  you  arc 
looking  for  something  cheerful  and  hopeful,  without 
finding  it.  Here  in  its  pages  is  the  encyclopedia  of 
all  suggestion.     If  men  invent  anything  new  it  must 


MENTAL  CAUSES  AND  MENTAL  R^EDIES     129 

be  some  new  conception  of  God  and  His  truth.  They 
must  have  a  new  God  and  a  new  doctrine.  Then  they 
may  make  apphcation  of  the  old  suggestions  to  bolster 
up  the  new  doctrine.  The  helpless  suffering  one  is 
almost  sure  to  think  that  the  healing  comes  from  the 
doctrine  connected  with  it,  and  so  the  doctrine  must 
be  good  whatever  its  origin.  The  truth  is  not  yet 
fully  grasped  that  all  healing  comes  from  Creative 
power,  working  thru  the  Law  of  Rest,  or  thru  the 
other  laws  of  health,  or  thru  the  law  of  miracles. 
The  Psalmist  addressing  the  Creator  says:  "For  with 
Thee  is  the  fountain  of  Life.  In  Thy  light  shall  we 
see  light."     Ps.  36:9. 

Pantheism  Reinstated. — The  worst  feature  of  the 
Emanuel  Movement  is  the  bringing  into  their  theology 
of  the  old  Pantheistic  idea  of  God,  and  then  trying  to 
make  the  suggestions  of  the  Bible  work  in  connecting 
human  minds  with  this  newly  adopted  Christian  ( ?) 
God.  This  may  not  appear  on  the  surface,  but  he  who 
reads  the  writings  of  Dr.  Worcester,  the  founder  of 
this  system,  will  find  the  old  unadulterated  doctrines 
of  Pantheistic  Buddhism  expressed  in  a  little  more 
modern  terms.  His  book,  "The  Living  Word,"  makes 
this  plain.  And  he  himself  states  that  "In  reality  the 
argument  I  am  pursuing  is  only  a  new  application  of 
the  argument  of  evolution."  He  also  sets  forth  the 
idea  that  all  the  stars  and  planets  are  living  beings 
with  souls,  drawing  very  near  to  the  Japanese  Shinto 
idea  that  the  trees  and  rocks  and  brooks  and  all  the 
objects  in  nature  are  possessed  of  living  souls. 

The  most  of  the  people  who  are  helped  by  sug- 
gestions in  the  hands  of  Pantheistic  healers  will  be- 
come Pantheists.     This  ethereal  idea  of  Deitv  is  not  at 


130  ESSENTIALS  TO  LIFE  AND   HEALTH 

once  foisted  upon  devout  Christian  people  who  come 
for  healing  nor  is  it  called  Pantheism  when  it  is  opened 
before  them.  The  efforts  to  teach  the  idea  among 
Christian  people  is  comparatively  recent  and  the 
methods  of  getting  at  the  final  conclusion  that  the 
"soul."  or  manifestation  of  all  "life"  in  all  nature  con- 
stitutes God,  are  various. 

The  Sub- Conscious  Mind. 

There  is  enough  of  mysticism  in  the  new  forms  of 
expression  to  make  it  somewhat  enchanting.  We  hear 
much  of  the  "Sub-attentive  ]\Iind,"  "The  Subliminal 
Consciousness,"  "Sub-consciousness"  and  the  "Sub- 
conscious mind,"  all  of  which  prevails  in  dreams  and 
under  the  hypnotic  influence.  The  "subconscious" 
mind  is  simply  the  human  mind  with  the  will  de- 
throned or  held  in  abeyance,  either  by  natural  or  by 
artificial  conditions.  The  mind  becomes  the  sport  of 
circumstances  while  not  under  control  of  its  own  moni- 
tor, the  will.  And  this  condition  of  mind  is  now  being 
made  the  subject  of  lengthy  "research"  and  learned 
"dissertation"  with  great  swelling  words  and  expres- 
sions which  few  if  any  understand.  The  writer  cannot 
see  the  good  of  dressing  up  ideas  in  Fuch  great  flowing 
robes,  unless  like  the  patent  medicine  man,  they  are 
aiming  to  arouse  in  the  common  mind  a  sort  of  mud- 
dled fascination  and  thus  make  it  easier  to  captivate 
the  will  by  confusing  the  judgment. 

As  in  all  the  other  kinds  of  mental  healing  the  object 
of  all  suggestion  is  to  bring  in  a  state  of  mental  hope- 
fulness, courage  and  confidence,  to  bring  rest  and 
peace  into  the  vital  domain.  And  it  is  to  the  Great 
Law  of  Rest  that  the  Emanuel  Movement  owes  nearly 


MENTAL  CAUSES  AND  MENTAL  REMEDIES     131 

all  of  its  cures.  From  what  the  writer  has  heard 
from  the  lips  of  one  of  the  chief  advocates  of  this 
movement  (Dr.  Shields),  one  great  purpose  is  to  exalt 
hypnotism  and  hypnotic  suggestion  to  a  position  of 
honor  in  the  working  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ. 

Hypnotism  is  a  procedure  where  in  response  to  sug- 
gestions from  the  operator  the  subject  yields  up  his 
will  fully  to  the  other  man.  This  yielding  is  by  far 
the  principal  part  of  the  transaction.  It  is  by  no 
means  a  forceful  conquest  of  one  mind  over  another. 
There  must  be  a  disposition  to  yield  or  it  must  be 
developed  before  the  hypnotist  can  bring  his  subject 
under  control.  There  is  a  power  invoked  in  this  pro- 
cess that  no  hypnotist  seems  to  understand.  When 
carried  to  its  most  profound  results  there  comes  in  a 
plainly  supernatural  manifestation.  When  the  human 
body,  in  a  horizontal  position,  supported  only  at  the 
head  and  feet,  is  made  to  sustain  a  thousand-pound 
weight  without  apparent  after  injury,  there  is  a  mani- 
festation of  power  contrary  to,  and  above  all  natural 
processes.  This  profound  state  of  unconsciousness 
may  be  sustained  for  several  days.  No  true  scientist 
dares  to  risk  his  reputation  by  pronouncing  this  a 
simply  natural  process  and  result.  I  repeat,  the  hyp- 
notist does  not  comprehend  the  power  that  manifests 
itself  in  response  to  his  action.  Leaving  out  of  con- 
sideration this  profound  and  sometimes  prolonged 
manifestation,  let  us  examine  that  condition  in 
which  the  patient  still  has  the  power  of  mo- 
tion, but  is  under  control  of  the  other  will.  When 
the  Creator  asks  man  to  yield  liis  will  to  him,  he  leaves 
the  man  in  full  possession  of  his  self  control  and  by 
the  new   relationship  greatly   nuiltiplies  his   responsi- 


132  ESSENTIALS    TO    LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

l)ility.  The  whole  mind  and  body  and  character  are 
strengthened  and  invigorated.  And  if  this  relation- 
ship of  yielding  is  sustained  by  the  man,  his  power  of 
self  control  continues  to  increase  until  his  will  is  able 
to  bring  every  faculty  of  mind  and  "'thought  into 
captivity  to  the  obedience  of  Christ."     II  Cor.  10:5. 

Not  thus,  by  any  means,  does  the  hypnotic  pro- 
cedure result.  Self-control  and  responsibility  are  gone 
instantly,  and  the  person  is  under  complete  control, 
it  may  be,  of  an  evil  mind.  The  body  with  all  its 
powers  becomes  the  sport  of  another  mind.  If  this 
process  is  often  repeated  the  subject  loses  strength  of 
mind  and  character  and  becomes  a  mere  creature  of 
circumstances.  Hypnotism  cannot  be  from  the 
Creator.  A  power  producing  opposite  results  must 
be  an  opposing  power.  "An  enemy  hath  done  this." 
Those  who  are  operating  with  hypnotism  do  not  com- 
prehend the  power  they  are  dealing  with.  The  truly 
sensible  m.an  or  woman  does  not  need  to  be  warned 
to  shun  everything  that  has  the  shadow  of  appearance 
of  robbing  people  of  self  control  and  responsibility. 
When  the  Emanuel  Movement  labors  to  exalt  hypnot- 
ism to  a  position  of  honor  in  the  workings  of  the  gos- 
pel of  Christ,  putting  it  on  a  level  with  or  above  the 
miracle  working  in  Judea,  they  are  taking  the  side  of 
the  ■  arch  enemy  of  God  and  are  doing  an  untold 
amount  of  injury  to  those  who  do  not  know  the  char- 
acter of  hypnotism.  It  is  one  of  the  best  evidences 
that  they  themselves  have  forgotten  the  Creator  and 
know  little  of  fellowship  with  him  or  his  Son.  Why 
not  lead  people  to  the  fountain  of  truth  and  light,  the 
throne  of  the  universe,  instead  of  the  brackish  pois- 
oned streams  of  earth?     Su])pose  "good  men"  do  use 


MENTAL  CAUSES  AND  MENTAL,  REMEDIES     133 

hypnotism,  does  that  sanctify  it?  God  and  Christ 
never  used  it,  neither  did  any  holy  man  of  old.  Bad 
men  and  devils,  may  and  do  use  it.  The  circumstances 
of  Eden  show  a  manifest  case  of  hypnotic  suggestion. 
When  professed  Christian  healers  adopt  hypnotism  it 
is  plain  that  something  has  come  in  to  eclipse  the 
divine  light.  The  writer  has  known  several  men  who 
practiced  hypnotism  in  their  earlier  years.  When 
they  were  converted  to  Christ  they  cast  it  aside  of 
their  own  accord  as  one  of  the  works  of  darkness. 
What  if  old  mental  and  physical  habits  are  cured  by 
hypnotic  workings ;  and  they  really  do  such  cures : 
this  is  no  valid  excuse  for  the  use  of  hypnotism  in 
any  case,  for  the  same  results  may  be  and  are  being 
accomplished  for  the  slaves  of  habit  without  robbinj.; 
them  of  self-control  and  responsibility.  In  Christian 
work  we  call  it  conversion.  Hypnotism  enables  man 
to  exalt  himself  instead  of  exalting  God,  the  might} 
healer.  It  brings  in  a  sort  of  rest  and  power  into  the 
soul  thru  the  will  power  of  another;  a  sort  of  spurious 
conversion,  which  may  change  the  habits  of  life.  It 
may  not  always  be  as  easy  to  induce  a  man  to  trust 
in  God  and  give  his  heart  to  him,  as  to  get  him  to  yield 
his  mind  and  will  to  another  man,  but  the  results  are 
much  more  satisfactory  and  permanent.  It  is  possible 
also  for  evil  men  to  accomplish  through  this  means 
purposes  otherwise  unattainable,  and  therefore  it  be- 
comes one  of  the  most  dangerous  abuses  of  the  Law 
of  Rest  with  which  we  have  to  deal. 

The  subconscious  mind,  we  repeat,  is  nothing  more 
than  the  human  mind  and  all  its  faculties,  with  the 
will  dethroned.  It  is  a  well-known  fact  that  man  has 
a  vital  nervous  svstem,  which  works  all  the  time  inde- 


134  ESSENTIALS    TO    LIFE    AKD    HEALTH 

pendent  of  the  will  excepting  as  the  will  thru  the  dia- 
phragm may  step  in  and  accelerate  the  functions  of  the 
vital  organs.  The  evolutionary  theory  of  a  "subcon- 
scious mind"  controlling  the  functions  of  the  body  has 
been  invented  to  explain  and  justify  hypnotism,  which 
brings  about  a  state  of  mind  and  body  in  which  all  the 
voluntary  actions  of  the  body  are  under  the  control 
of  another  will. 

Occult  Forces. 

Some  of  these  modern  philosophers  of  an  ancient 
system  have  a  peculiar  way  of  accounting  for  what 
true  science  calls  the  results  of  heredity  and  for  the 
fatal  action  of  poisons.  This  statement  is  true  of 
Christian  Scientists.  They  tell  us  that  there  is  an 
occult  force  operating  on  the  race  in  spite  of  "love" 
and  "truth,"  and  the  influence  of  their  philosophy, 
which  causes  death.  It  is  not  the  poison,  but  the  con- 
sensus of  adverse  mental  opinion  that  kills.  They 
claim  the  existence  of  occult  forces  and  explain  the 
adverse  phenomena  of  life  thru  them  instead  of  thru 
the  violations  of  natural  and  moral  law.  We  believe 
also  in  an  occult  power,  yes,  in  an  occult  being.  And 
thru  his  power,  we  can  account  for  all  the  foolish 
vagaries  of  science  falsely  so-called,  and  for  the  fanat- 
ical fascinations  of  these  philosophies.  The  Old  Book- 
says :  "In  whom  the  god  of  this  world  hath  blinded 
the  minds  of  them  that  believe  not."  The  god  of  this 
world  wc  are  also  informed,  "has  transformed  himself 
into  an  angel  of  light."  Light  is  truth.  "The  god  of 
this  world"  is  mixing  up  daikness  and  glossing  it  ov^er 
with  light.  He  knows  how  to  use  the  forces  in  nature, 
especially  the  I^aw  of  Rest,  and  these  modern  ])hilnso- 


MENTAL  CAUSES  AND  MENTAL  REMEDIES    135 

phers,  while  denying  his  existence,  invent  other  occult 
forces  to  account  for  the  phenomena  of  natural  law. 
It  is  this  god  of  this  world  who  is  working  the  mysti- 
cisms, fascinations  and  incantations  of  the  various 
phases  of  these  Ancient-Modern  systems  of  philosophy. 
The  animus  that  exists  in  the  apostles  of  these  systems 
against  the  doctrine  of  a  personal  Creator  is  sufficient 
evidence  that  "an  enemy  hath  done  this."  The  mind 
that  is  under-working  all  these  systems  gives  evidence 
of  being  the  mind  of  another,  instead  of  the  "Mind  of 
Christ." 

Are  These  Philosophies  Christian? 

Two  of  the  three  profess  to  be.  The  other  does  mil, 
but  would  rather  have  people  think  that  Christ  was 
tr\-ing  to  imitate  their  system,  as  it  then  existed  among 
heathen  philosophers.  This  is  true  of  New  Thought. 
Ft  matters  not  how  much  men  profess  respect  for 
Chri.'^t  and  the  gospel,  if  they  reject  the  Bible  or  an}' 
portion  of  it,  all  of  which  he  sanctioned,  they  reject 
him.  If  Christ  was  right,  if  he  was  a  noble  and  pure 
character,  then  he  was  what  he  claimed  to  be — the 
Son  of  God — and  the  writings  of  Moses  and  the  proph- 
ets and  of  those  who  were  taught  by  him  are  true. 

It  was  "the  Spirit  of  Christ  in  the  prophets  which 
testified  before  hand  the  sufferings  of  Christ  aud  the 
glory  which  should  follow."  If  Christ  was  "Truth" 
then  his  teaching  and  miracle  working  were  not  in- 
spired and  accomplished  by  any  spirit  of  jui^gling  with 
Natural  Law  thru  any  sleight-of-mind  performance  by 
means  of  ancient  occultism.  Let  all  these  modern 
I)hilc)Sophers  throw  off  the  mask  and  their  work  amons^ 
Christian  people  is  ended. 


136         ESSENTIALS    TO    LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

We  cannot  deny  that  there  is  an  inspiration  in  all 
these  systems,  but  is  it  the  same  inspiration  that  moved 
the  holy  men  of  old?  If  this  is  the  same  inspiration 
today  \vill  it  deny  the  teachings  or  any  portion  of  the 
word  which  came  thru  its  workings  two  thousand 
years  ago?  Truth  cannot  deny  itself.  Reader,  you 
do  not  have  to  accept  everything  as  truth  just  be- 
cause you  cannot  understand  it,  neither  because  a 
modern  philosopher  brings  about  a  restoration  of  the 
sick  to  health  are  we  to  conclude  that  all  his  theories 
and  doctrines  are  true.  Again  we  say  anybody  can 
juggle  with  the  Law  of  Rest.  The  logic  of  these 
philosophies  so  far  as  the  truth  is  concerned  is  accord- 
ing to  the  mental  viewpoint,  either  that  these  works 
wrought  in  our  days  are  paramount  with  the  works  of 
Christ  or  else  that  the  works  of  Christ  being  wrought 
by  the  same  means  now  used  are  no  more  miraculous 
and  hence  on  a  level  with  these  which  we  see,  and 
further  that  the  work  accomplished,  as  already  noted, 
proves  the  truth  of  the  philosophy  in  all  its  particulars. 
This  logic  in  its  ultimate  analysis  places  modern  man 
on  a  level  with  all  the  Gods  that  ever  existed  and 
really  enthrones  man  as  the  God  of  this  world,  be- 
cause, according  to  them,  he  is  now  doing  equal  or 
greater  works  than  ever  were  done  before.  Thus  the 
Creator  of  the  universe  is  trampled  underneath  the 
mire  of  human  self-conceit.  Man  is  even  proclaimed 
to  be  God  by  some  and  because  new  and  wonderful 
results  are  reached  thru  his  manipulations  of  the  Law 
of  Rest,  which  but  few  have  understood,  some  are 
readv  to  believe  it. 


MENTAL  CAUSES  AND  MENTAL  REMEDIES     137 

The  Real  Christian  Hope. 

It  is  true  that  so  far  as  immediate  physical  results 
are  concerned  it  does  not  make  such  a  vast  difference 
what   the   confidence   finds   to   rest   upon.     If  present 
troubles  are  provided  for  one  may   be  at  rest  for  a 
while   unmindful  of  the   future.     But  there   comes  a 
time  when  the  realities  of  this  life  vanish  from  the 
human  vision  and  the  grasp  loosens  on  all  that  is  tan- 
gible and  solid  in  existence.     Then  the  soul  needs  the 
enduring  help  that  comes  from   fellowship  with   the 
eternal  God.     It  costs  no  more  to  have  this  Spiritual 
Rest  in  the  Creator  and  his  promises  of  a  new  life  be- 
yond the  shores  of  time^  than  to  have  the  hope  that 
flickers  out  with  the  dying  embers  of  one's  last  day, 
or  faintly  glimmers  into  the  abyss  and  tries  to  find 
rest  in  the  ethereal  nothingness  of  enchanting  mysti- 
cism.    May  the  God  of  all  grace  deliver  you  and  me, 
reader,  from  such  a  fate.     He  who  created  can  recreate. 
He  who  provides  for  this  life  can  and  will  provide  for 
us  the  eternal  lifenf  we  rest  in  Him,  for  he  has  prom- 
ised   to    do    it.     God    pity    the    self-made    orphans. 
One  day  their  refuge  will  be  swept  away.     What  a 
comfort  then  to  know  that  the  Heavenly  Father  will 
provide  a  home  with  all  the  comforts  the  human  heart 
can  desire.     The  real  Christian  hope  has  a  most  won- 
derful soothing  healing  power  in  it.     It  provides  a  rest 
for    which   there    is    no    substitute.     It   contains    "the 
promise  of  the  life  that  now  is  and  of  that  which  is 
to  come."     1  Tim.  4:8.     There  is  true  hygiene  in  ii, 
for  it  enables  one  to  escape  all  the  ills  that  come  from 
mental  causes.     While  it  calls  for  self-denial  and  sac- 
rifice and  obedience  to  both  moral  and  natural  law,  it 
provides  compensation  and  satisfaction  in  that  fellow- 

10 


138  ESSENTIALS    TO    LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

ship  which  is  without  disappointments,  and  that  hope 
which  is  free  from  all  doubts  and  fears,  and  that  "per- 
fect" peace  of  God  which  passeth  all  understanding, 
and  that  repose  that  is  as  quiet,  cahii  and  undisturbed 
as  the  foundations  of  the  Eternal  Throne. 

The  joyful  quietness  that  pervades  such  a  soul  is  in 
wide  contrast  to  that  forced  rest  which  man  tries  to 
impose  on  himself  thru  these  modern  systems  of  self- 
salvation. 

The  God  Within. 

A  poor  suffering  soul  was  asked  how  she  was  get- 
ting along  a  few  days  after  she  had  fallen  into  the 
meshes  of  one  of  these  philosophies.  "Oh!  I  am  all 
right  now.  The  God  that  is  within  me  is  saving  me." 
This  doctrine  of  an  undying  essence  or  power  within, 
which  used  to  be  called  the  soul,  makes  necessary  a 
new  definition  of  death  which  enables  these  evolu- 
tionists, in  their  theories  of  life,  to  be  completely  rid 
of  all  creative  power  as  revealed  in  the  promise  of  the 
resurrection  of  the  dead.  Those  supremely  comfort- 
ing assurances  of  life  thru  Jesus  Christ  mean  nothing 
to  these  schools  of  philosophy.  "For  ye  are  dead  and 
your  life  is  hid  with  Christ  in  God.  When  Christ  who 
is  our  life  shall  appear,  then  shall  ye  also  appear  \\ith 
Him  in  glory."  Col.  2>:2>.  "For  our  conversation  is 
in  heaven  from  whence  also  we  look  for  the  Savior, 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  who  shall  change  our  vile  body 
that  it  may  be  fashioned  like  unto  His  glorious  body, 
according  to  the  working  whereby  He  is  able  to  sub- 
due all  things  unto  Himself."  Phil.  3:20.  This  tho 
coming  from  Paul,  a  man  of  the  broadest  experience  of 


MENTAL  CAUSES  AND  MENTAL  REMEDIES     139 

any  man  in  the  Christian  age,  is  considered  mere  rub- 
l)is'h. 

The  Modern  Theory. 

Tlie  modern  thcor\-,  in  brief,  is  that  life  as  we  be- 
hold it,  did  not  come  from  creation,  is  not  dependent 
on  the  laws  of  life  here  and  needs  no  act  of  creative 
power  to  make  it  continnons  in  the  life  to  come,  really 
that  "Life"  is  an  eternal  principle  or  force  or  essence 
which  has  brought  into  existence  all  things  whicli 
we  see.  Evolution  does  not  account  for  the  mathe- 
matical Laws  of  Gravitation.  It  cannot  marshal  a 
host  of  smaller  laws  from  the  embryonic  stage  uj), 
slowly  developing  into  full-fledged  Laws  of  Gravita- 
tion, starting  new  planetary  systems  into  operation. 
Nor  can  it  explain  the  power  that  emanates  from  the 
sun  and  show  examples  of  other  inert  bodies  of  matter 
slowdy  developing  sun  power  thru  evolution.  By  tak- 
ing advantage  of  the  uniform  gradations  in  the  works 
of  creation  here  on  earth  and  reasoning  from  them  a 
show  of  science  is  produced  which,  to  those  who  accept 
it,  eliminates  the  Creator  from  this  world  and  thru 
the  invention  of  "the  God  within,"  man  does  not  need 
any  help  for  the  future.  These  theories  so  thoroughly 
put  the  Creator  away  from  humanity  that  the  old 
Book,  which  defines  sin  and  determines  human  re- 
sponsibility, passes  into  oblivion,  and  with  it  goes  all 
law  and  all  condemnation  for  sin  and  all  sense  of 
future  responsibility.  This  takes  a  fearful  load  off 
the  mind  of  those  who  are  stubborn  sinners  and  lays 
the  foundation  for  a  kind  of  rest  anrl  peace  which  is 
built  on  these  assumjitions  by  going  back  again  to 
the   r)ld   Book  and  appropriating  to  those  systems  all 


U(i  ESSENTIALS    TO     UFK    AND    HEALTH 

the  cheerful,  happy,  blessed,  hopeful  promises  that  are 
made  to  the  faithful  obedient  child  of  God.  Nothing- 
could  be  more  pleasing  to  unregenerate  human  nature 
than  such  a  system  of  assurances  with  all  the  condi- 
tions and  obligations  eliminated.  The  Scripture  prom- 
ises and  assurances  are  not  always  used  in  Scripture 
language.  Versatile  man  takes  the  thoughts  and  trans- 
forms them  into  human  sayings  which  work  charm- 
ingly on  human  nature,  producing  rest  and  peace. 
And  then  because  they  get  relief  they  think  they  have 
discovered  some  new  doctrine  that  has  in  it  Divine 
power  to  heal.  As  if  there  was  anything  in  man's 
mental  conception  of  an  ethereal  Deity  and  of  the 
nothingness  of  material  things ;  as  if,  we  say,  there  was 
anything  intrinsic  in  such  conceptions  to  heal  the  sick. 
It  does  nothing  onl}'  for  those  that  believe.  The  tem- 
porary cure  lies  in  the  believing,  not  in  the  doctrine.  If 
they  would  believe  the  truth  it  would  do  them  lasting 
good,  for  then  there  never  could  come  that  disappoint- 
ment which  awaits  those  who  are  deceived. 

The  Weakness  of  Modern  Man. 

Mankind,  especially  women,  arc  superstitious.  They 
love  to  wonder,  to  marvel,  to  be  puzzled,  mystified,  be- 
witched, enchanted,  befogged,  humbugged — that  is, 
sentimental  humanity.  Watch  how  they  run  after 
the  wizard  and  juggler,  and  see  how  they  gap  and 
wonder  at  his  sleight-of-hand  tricks.  And  now  when 
these  modern  sleight-of-mind  performances  begin,  see 
how  they  flock  again  to  have  their  sentimental  curios- 
ity satiated.  The  writer  once  saw  five  hundred  people 
vote    almost    solidly    that    Alexander  Dowie    was    a 


MENTAL  CAUSES  AND  MENTAL  REMEDfES     141 

prophet  of  God.     But  there  came  a  day  of  revelation 
to  most  of  them. 

Ancient  and  Modern  Alike. 

W  hen  ihc  men  of  ancient  time  had  forgotten  the 
Creator  they  went  after  gods  of  wood  and  stone.  Paul 
says  of  these:  "Because  that  when  they  knew  God 
they  glorified  Him  not  as  God,  neither  were  thankful, 
but  became  vain  in  their  imaginations  and  their  fool- 
ish heart  was  darkened,  professing  themselves  to  be 
wise  they  became  fools  and  changed  the  glory  of  the 
uncorruptible  God  into  an  image  made  like  to  corrupt- 
ible man  and  to  birds  and  four-footed  beasts  and  creep- 
ing things."  Rom.  1 :  21-23.  And  what  follows  shows 
where  much  of  the  moral  corruption  came  from.  How 
much  of  this  applies  to  the  men  who  have  changed 
the  glory  of  the  uncorruptible  God  into  a  mere  airy 
sentiment,  a  mere  essential  nothingness,  ascribing 
power  to  it,  and  worshipping  it  if  such  a  thing  were 
.  possible;  we  leave  the  reader  to  decide.  At  the  very 
most  their  god  can  be  no  more  than  the  forces  the 
Creator  uses  in  holding  together  the  material  world, 
and  the  sentiments  of  love  and  affection  which  He 
created  to  hold  human  society  together.  The  ancient 
systems  might  be  called  material  idolatry,  while  the 
modern  could  well  be  dignified  by  the  term  ethereal 
idolatry. 

Rising  Above  Trouble. 

W  Irh  ■"ihe  peace  of  God  that  passeth  all  understand- 
ing" takes  possession  of  the  soul  there  will  be  rejoicing 
in  the  midst  of  sorrow  and  gladness  even  when  bowed 
with  grief.     The  bitterest  cup  will   be  sweet  and   the 


142  ESSENTIALS    TO     MFE    AND    HEALTH 

heaviest  burden  light.  Pain  will  be  pleasure  and  dis- 
appointment satisfaction.  "As  for  God  His  way  is 
perfect."  INIan's  ways  will  be  perfect  when  he  knows 
God.  "Acquaint  now  thyself  with  God  and  be  at 
peace,  thereby  good  shall  come  unto  thee."  There  is 
no  use  denying  the  existence  of  sin  and  trouble  to 
get  rid  of  it.  The  bearing  of  it  and  rising  above  it 
thru  fellowship  with  the  Creator  constitute  the  grand- 
est, most  elevating  discipline  that  can  be  experienced 
in  the  human  soul.  Paul  says:  "Our  light  affliction 
which  is  but  for  a  moment  worketh  for  us  a  far  more 
exceeding  and  eternal  weight  of  glory  ;"  "And  we  know 
that  all  things  work  together  for  good  to  them  that 
love  God,  who  are  the  called  according  to  His  pur- 
pose." Rom.  8:28.  He  who  is  acquainted  with  the 
Father  and  with  His  Son  Jesus  Christ,  will  have  no 
need  for  these  modern  systems.  He  has  drunk  from 
life's  pure  fountain  and  the  brackish  streams  of  earth 
do  not  allure  him.  His  thirst  has  been  quenched  from 
the  water  of  life.  He  has  secured  the  true  rest  and 
perfect  peace. 

Counterfeits  and  the  Genuine. 

V 

These  counterfeiters,  while  denying  the  Creator, 
have  to  appropriate,  or  steal  a  little  partial  rest  and 
peace  by  a  false  application  of  His  great  Law  of  Rest, 
else  their  promissory  notes  would  be  of  no  value. 
None  of  these  systems  have  any  legitimate  right  what- 
ever to  the  Rest  which  comes  from  being  in  even  par- 
tial harmony  with  Natural  Law,  because  they  deny  the 
existence  of  the  Creator,  who  made  these  laws  and 
who  is  the  real  author  of  all  rest  and  peace.  Rest 
comes  not  from  the  ethereal  pantheistic  god,  which  is 


MENTAL  CAUSES  AND  MENTAL  REMEDIES     143 

as  much  a  creation  of  the  human  mind  as  were  the 
man-made  gods  of  ancient  Greece  and  Rome.  The 
abuse  of  natural  law  does  not  give  any  one  title  to 
even  the  partial  results.  The  child  of  God  has  ob- 
tained his  perfect  peace  thru  fellowship  with  his 
Heavenly  Father.  He  has  the  genuine  bank  notes  of 
heaven.  The  Creator  will  not  set  aside  a  Law  of 
Nature  or  of  Grace  because  it  is  abused.  But  He 
will  clothe  with  power  those  men  and  women  who 
thru  self-denial  and  self-surrender  come  into  close  rela- 
tionships with  him  thru  obedience  to  His  laws.  Be- 
cause men  have  not  secured  this  fellowship  with  God 
as  was  their  privilege,  is  not  a  good  reason  why  they 
should  not  soon  secure  it.  The  same  earnest  thought 
and  faith  and  devotion  and  surrender  of  the  will  that 
these  systems  of  philosophy  demand  will  bring  a  man 
very  near  to  God.  The  counterfeit  promissory  notes 
will  pass  current  among  a  large  class  of  the  people  for 
awhile,  and  people  may  enjoy  the  things  they  pur- 
chase, but  there  is  a  clearing  house  where  the  spurious 
bills  will  not  pass.  The  genuine  notes  are  inlaid  with 
gold  and  purple  threads — gold,  "the  faith  which  work- 
eth  by  love," — purple,  the  marks  of  the  atonement 
thru  Christ.  They  will  purchase  all  and  much  more 
here  and  they  will  let  you  past  the  portals  of  heaven's 
clearing  house  into  the  glorious  City  of  God.  Is  it 
too  severe,  and  is  it  uncharitable  to  call  these  systems 
counterfeits?  Let  them  show  creative  power  in  their 
operations,  and  we  will  call  them  divine.  But  how 
can  they,  since  they  have  denied  the  e.xistence  of  a 
Creator.  And  yet  they  would  have  you  believe  that 
they  are  closely  connected  with  God  and  Jesus. 
The  Creator  has  nowhere  promised  to  give  us  all  tlu- 


144  ESSENTIALS    TO    LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

benefits  of  eternal  life  here — to  remove  the  conse- 
quences of  all  our  inharniony  with  the  laws  of  our 
being.  If  He  should  cure  us  of  all  our  maladies  as 
fast  as  they  come,  before  we  had  learned  the  lesson 
of  obedience,  he  would  be  placing  a  premium  on  the 
violation  of  His  own  laws.  He  has  made  life  depend- 
ent on  the  Seven  Essentials  set  forth  in  this  volume. 
When  men  learn,  how^  to  get  in  right  relation  to  these 
essentials  they  know  the  laws  of  life,  and  may  reap 
the  harvest  of  obedience. 

The  Law  of  Rest  as  we  have  seen  connects  man 
with  God  if  carried  out  in  the  innermost  soul.  As 
the  child's  will  must  be  submitted  to  the  wise  parents' 
will  in  order  to  have  a  harmonious  family,  so  the  will 
of  God's  creatures  must  be  submitted  to  His  will  in 
order  that  harmony  may  prevail  in  His  kingdom. 
And  this  submission  means  observance  of  those  rela- 
tions on  which  life  depends.  It  is  not  a  slavish,  arbi- 
trary submission,  but  a  loving,  de\out  appreciation 
of  the  superiority  of  divine  creative  power  and  Father- 
hood. Such  yielding  brings  into  the  soul  quietness, 
joy,  comfort,  rest,  peace.  There  is  rejoicing  and  hap- 
piness in  the  appreciation  of  our  environment  and  life 
becomes  worth  living.  He  who  knows  this  submis- 
sion, in  every  conflict  in  life,  meets  a  conquered  foe, 
for  he  has  the  invincible  Creator  on  his  side,  "and  if 
God  be  for  us  who  can  be  against  us?"  In  such  re- 
lationship self-denial  becomes  pleasure,  and  obedience 
privilege. 

Natural  and  Spiritual  Rest  Contrasted. 

There  is  a  cjuality  in  spiritual  rest  which  makes  it 
entirely    different   from    natural    rest,   tho    it    be    only 


MENTAL  CAUSES  AND  MENTAL  REMEDIES      145 

the  exercise  of  the  same  kind  of  confidence  toward 
a  grander,  nobler  object.  Every  man  and  woman  daily 
exercises  confidence  in  the  working  of  Natural  Law; 
they  trust  in  the  return  of  the  seasons  and  they  rest 
in  the  Law  of  Gravitation.  They  lie  down  at  night 
with  full  expectation  of  the  return  of  the  morning. 
Thousands  admire  the  scientific  workings  of  the  Laws 
of  Astronomy  and  of  the  Laws  of  God  in  Nature. 
They  trust  in  the  financial  situation,  in  the  civic  con- 
ditions produced  by  good  government,  in  their  church 
and  their  family  and  social  relationships.  But  these 
do  not  bring  spiritual  comfort.  There  is  something 
lacking  to  round  out  and  perfect  the  existing  rela- 
tionships. It  is  fellowship.  To  know  and  study  the 
works  of  creation  and  stop  there  brings  no  fellowship 
with  the  Creator.  This  personal  experience  of  loving, 
restful  acquaintance  with  the  Great  Father  in  Heaven 
rounds  out  and  perfects  all  the  trust  and  repose  we 
may  place  in  Llis  works.  "Thou  wilt  keep  him  in 
perfect  peace  whose  mind  is  stayed  on  thee,  because 
he  trusteth  in  thee."  This  is  the  acme  of  all  human 
attainment.  There  is  nothing  mysterious  or  marvel- 
ous about  it.  It  exists  in  partial  perfection  between 
the  true  child  and  the  true  parent.  Here  is  a  Father 
who  has  never  deceived  his  child.  The  mother  too 
has  been  true  to  truth  and  sound  principles.  How 
that  child  will  honor,  love,  respect,  even  revere  such 
parents.  What  confidence  will  prevail  in  such  a  house- 
hold, whether  its  members  are  present  or  absent.  What 
a  fellowship  prevails  and  makes  that  home  a  minia- 
ture kingdom   of  heaven. 

It  is  at  the  fellowship  that  the  line  must  he  drawn 
between  natural  and  spiritual  rest.     Man  cannot   have 


14(1  ESSENTIALS    TO    LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

fellowship  with  the  inanimate  things.  He  may  have  a 
reflection  of  the  heavenly  spiritual  fellowship,  with 
those  of  his  fellows  who  are  also  acquainted  with  God. 
To  have  fellowship  with  the  Father  and  with  His 
Son,  Jesus  Christ,  is  no  more  difficult  than  to  have 
fellowship  with  a  true  parent.  To  thus  have  fello^^ - 
ship  with  God  is  to  have  fellowship  with  one  another. 
With  Him  is  the  past,  present  and  future.  He  can  and 
will  deal  gently  and  kindly  with  our  mistakes  and 
sins  of  the  past,  if  vre  come  to  Him  in  loving  trust. 
He  watches  over  us  in  the  present.  "The  Angel  of 
the  Lord  encampeth  round  about  them  that  fear  Him 
and  delivereth  them."  Ps.  34:7.  "All  things  work 
together  for  good  to  them  that  love  God,  who  are  the 
called  according  to  His  purpose."  Rom.  8:28.  He 
has  control  of  all  our  future  interests.  We  may,  by 
loving  confidence  in  Him,  insure  the  continuance  of 
this  life  and  make  it  the  one  to  come.  We  lie  down 
at  night  with  not  a  thought  but  that  we  will  waken 
with  the  light  of  the  morning.  We  trust  in  nature 
constantly.  We  may  learn  by  listening  to  the  voice 
of  our  Heavenly  Father  to  lie  down  peacefully,  calmly, 
restfully  in  death,  knowing  by  faith  in  His  word  that 
He  will,  in  the  glad  resurrection  morning,  call  us  forth 
to  a  life  of  love  and  joy  and  peace. 

This  spiritual  fellowship  and  rest  is  the  sure  found- 
ation of  this  life  and  the  life  to  come.  By  trusting 
nature  and  our  fellowmen  we  may  obtain  temporar}^ 
results.  By  attention  to  and  confidence  in  the  laws 
of  life  alone  we  may  be  profited  for  this  life,  with  rest 
and  a  degree  of  peace.  For  "Bodily  exercise  profiteth 
for  a  little  season,  but  godliness  is  profitable  in  all 
things,  having  the  promise  of  the  life  that  now  is  and 


MENTAL  CAUSES  AND  MENTAL  REMEDIES      147 

of  that  which  is  to  come."  He  who  trusts  in  nature 
or  any  single  object  in  nature  or  any  system  of  laws 
in  nature,  does  not  in  so  doing  trust  in  God.  He  who 
trusts  the  power  does  not  necessarily  trust  the  per- 
sonality. >5ut  he  who  trusts  in  Jehovah,  the  Creator, 
and  in  His  Son  Jesus  Christ,  trusts  all,  trusts  every- 
thing except  the  fabrications  of  the  enemy.  He  who 
trusts  the  natural  will  get  natural  results.  He  wh<  ■ 
trusts  the  Creator  will  get  Spiritual  results. 

An  Illustration:  It  is  not  necessary  to  build  on  a 
false  foundation  nor  to  try  to  rest  secure  by  looking 
to  nature  alone,  when  the  sure  foundation  is  so  easy 
of  attainment,  so  universally  approachable.  The  child 
may  have  full  sweet  companionship,  communion  and 
fellowship  with  the  Father  whom  he  has  never  seen. 
A  faithful  mother  or  other  friend  has  inspired  confi- 
dence in  and  love  for  the  absent  parent.  And  the  par- 
ent by  his  communications  has  established  that  confi- 
dence, and  the  hope  of  a  future  union  between  the  two 
begets  a  growing  fellowship  which  nothing  but  death 
can  sever.  So  our  Father  in  Heaven,  the  Creator  of 
the  universe,  seeks  communion-  and  fellowship  with 
us,  and  will  establish  communication  with  us  when- 
ever we  reach  the  point  where  we  appreciate  His  ac- 
quaintance. He  is  a  God  of  love,  of  pity,  of  sympathy, 
of  tender  mercy.  Paul  calls  Him  "The  Father  of  Mer- 
cies and  the  God  of  all  comfort,  who  comforteth  us  in 
all  our  affliction  that  we  may  be  able  to  comfort  them 
which  are  in  any  trouble  by  the  comfort  wherewith 
we  ourselves  are  comforted  of  God."  2.  Cor.  1 : 4. 
His  character  has  been  maligned  even  by  some  form.'- 
of  theology  until  mankind  are  afraid  to  approach  Him. 
Until   His  character  and   personality  are  appreciated 


148  ESSENTIALS    TO    LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

there  can  be  no  fellowship  with  Him.  If  some  of  the 
modern  forms  of  theology,  which  deny  the  personality 
of  the  Creator  prevail,  fellowship  with  Him  must 
cease  because  there  can  be  no  fellowship  without  a 
clear  sense  of  His  personality.  Fellowship  with  a 
mere  force  or  power  is  unthinkable.  It  would  seem 
that  much  of  the  modern  teaching,  especially  evolu- 
tion and  the  non-personality  of  Deity,  were  invented 
on  purpose  to  wipe  out  all  idea  of  fellowship  witli 
the  Creator. 

Some  healers  are  using  the  Law  of  Rest  so  as  to 
attract  attention  solely  to  themselves  and  the  systems 
they  inculcate  and  thus  they  obscure  and  eclipse  the 
being  of  God  in  the  minds  of  those  who  are  drawn 
toward  them.  But  to  those  who  can  rise  superior  to 
the  errors  of  our  time  and  appreciate  not  only  cre- 
ative sustaining  power,  but  also  the  Creator  Himself, 
He  stands  ready  to  reveal  Himself  as  a  mighty  helper. 
"For  the  eyes  of  Jehovah  run  to  and  fro  thruout  tlie 
whole  earth  to  show  Himself  strong  in  behalf  of  them 
whose  heart  is  perfect  toward  him."  2  Chron.  16:9. 
When  we  can  look  above  the  things  of  time  and  sense 
and  let  our  confidence  rest  on  Him  who  created  and 
sustains  all  things,  whose  life  and  character  was  ex- 
emplified in  that  Man  of  Galilee  who  went  about  doing 
good  to  lost  suffering  humanity,  and  say,  "My  Father 
and  my  God,  I  will  love  Thee  and  serve  Thee,  I  ^\ill 
rest  in  Thee.  Be  Thou  my  Guide.  Take  control. 
Deal  with  me  as  seemeth  best  to  Thee.  Thy  will  be 
done  in  me  here.  Save  me  from  myself  now.  Give 
me  the  bright  hope  of  eternal  life  in  Thy  kingdom. 
Save  me  from  earthly  ills,  nevertheless  Thy  will  l)e 
done;"  when  such   a  spirit  pcr\ades  the   human  soul 


MENTAL  CAUSES  AND  MENTAL  REMEDIES     149 

there  will  come  into  the  heart  the  sweet  assurance  of 
heavenly  rest  and  peace  that  passeth  all  understand- 
ing. He  who  has  drunk  from  this  fountain  of  grace 
will  have  no  thirst  for  the  fountains  that  have  been 
fouled  by  earthly  influences.  Under  the  guidance  of 
the  Divine  all  natural  objects  of  rest  become  a  source 
of  spiritual  and  divine  comfort  because  the  soul  sees 
in  them  only  parts  of  God's  great  plan  for  His  crea- 
tures here. 

Broken  Vessels. 

But  the  natural  objects  of  faith  and  rest  apart  from 
fellowship  with  their  Creator  become  only  broken 
vessels  that  can  hold  but  a  small  supply  of  comfort 
and  that  only  for  a  little  time.  Rest  in  them  does  not 
bridge  the  chasm  between  us  and  the  future.  The 
assurance  of  the  family  physician  and  confidence  in 
and  obedience  to  the  laws  of  diet  or  breathing  will 
bring  temporary  peace  and  comfort,  but  here  they  end. 
The  future  is  all  unprovided  for. 

"Hath  a  nation  changed  their  gods,  which  yet  are 
no  gods?  but  my  people  have  changed  their  glory 
for  that  which  doth  not  profit.  Be  astonished,  O  ye 
heavens,  at  this,  and  be  horribly  afraid ;  be  ye  very 
desolate,  saith  the  Lord.  For  my  people  have  commit- 
ted two  evils;  they  have  forsaken  me,  the  fountain  of 
living  waters,  and  hewed  them  out  cisterns,  broken 
cisterns  that  can  hold  no  water."     Jer.  2:  11-Kv 

The  elements  of  power  in  Spiritual  Rest  are  "Faith 
which  worketh  by  love,"  confidence  and  good  will, 
loving  trust.  C)ut  of  these  grows  every  lovely  thin*; 
in  human  character.  Every  Christian  grace  can  la- 
drawn   from   this  fountain.      And   the   spirit   of  joyful 


150  ESSENTIALS    TO    LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

obedience  possesses  the  entire  being.  When  these  pre- 
vail toward  God  in  the  human  soul,  that  soul  pours  out 
blessings  on  all  with  whom  it  comes  in  contact.  There 
is  peace  and  prosperity  within.  There  are  no  mental 
disturbances,  hence  that  large  class  of  ills  that  comes 
from  mental  disturbances  can  not  find  lodgment  in  that 
being.  Nor  can  ills  exist  that  are  due  to  the  viola- 
tions of  other  natural  laws  because  they  are  all  obeyed, 
as  well  as  the  great  moral  law  of  ten  precepts.  This 
is  the  mind  of  Christ.  It  is  the  saving,  keeping  power. 
This  is  perfect  hygiene  and  perfect  Christianity  united. 
"Let  him  take  hold  of  my  strength,  that  he  may 
make  peace  with  me;  and  he  shall  make  peace  witli 
me."     Isa.  27 :  5. 


CHAPTER  VIIL 
Physical  Remedies  for  Diseases. 

During  the  last  fifty  years  it  has  been  proven  that 
it  is  possible  by  the  application  of  these  Seven  Essen- 
tials with  which  wc  are  dealing,  to  place  the  average 
patient  in  a  condition  to  rise  above  nearly  all  diseased 
conditions,  and  enable  him  or  her,  to  live  out  the  full 
allotment  of  three  score  and  ten  years,  or  even  more. 
Experience  would  indicate  that  all  healing  processes, 
as  well  as  all  processes  of  growth,  are  comparatively 
slow.  Impatience  to  get  well  often  leads  to  defeat 
and  disaster.  If  you  seek  health  out  of  a  bottle  yni 
may  succeed  in  alleviating  the  symptoms  in  one  or- 
gan, but  sooner  or  later  some  other  organ  will  be 
found  suffering,  and  in  all  probability  the  old  symp- 
toms will  return.  Oftener  no  relief,  only  what  mor- 
phine or  some  other  quieting  drug  gives,  is  expe- 
rienced. This  is  brought  about  by  the  deadening  ef- 
fect on  the  nervous  system.  This  is  the  secret  of  re- 
lief which  headache  powders  give.  Soon  the  dose  must 
be  repeated  and  increased.  These  statements  are  not 
true  of  natural  germicides  and  vermifuges  (worm  de- 
stroyers), which  are  exceedingly  profitable  remedies 
if  used  wisely. 

The  natural  means  which  sustain  the  body  in  health 
and  assist  in  its  restoration  are  tabulated  in  the  fol- 
lowing pages.     Wc  have  seen   fit  to  place  with  tlu-ni 


152  ESSENTIALS    TO    LIFE    AND     HEALTH 

some  artificial  remedies  which  are  not  safe  simply  to 
show  their  relations  and  classification. 

We  might  have  amplified  very  much  more  in  our 
tabular  views,  but  we  did  not  deem  it  necessary,  as 
we  only  desire  to  illustrate  that  all  things  which  may 
under  any  circumstances  be  used  in  preserving  and 
restoring  health  are  either  legitimate  uses  or  abuses  of 
some  one  of  the  Seven  Essentials. 


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15r>  ESSENTIALS    TO    LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

Not  all  the  things  tabulated  in  the  preceding  pages 
are  to  be  approved.  Not  all  physical' games ;  not  all 
mental  diversion  and  games;  nor  the  use  of  flesh,  nor 
hypnotism,  nor  the  indiscriminate  use  of  sedatives, 
anesthetics  and  stimulants.  The  question  of  the  wis- 
dom of  using  animal  serums  is  still  unsettled.  We 
have  classified  these  things  with  the  clearly  legitimate 
ones  because  they  are  used  to  produce  the  results  indi- 
cated. 

From  this  tabulated  list  we  will  choose  a  few  of  the 
simpler  remedies  used  in  the  great  sanitariums.  Most 
of  these  may  be  applied  at  home.  Careful  attention  to 
details  is  necessary  in  the  use  of  these  healing  agents. 
Most  of  those  who  wish  to  learn  to  apply  them  will  do 
much  better  work  by  taking  a  few  practical  lessons. 
However,  one  who  has  good  common  sense,  with  a  fair 
degree  of  practical  training  in  life,  will  not  go  far 
wrong"  if  he  follows  these  suggestions  to  the  best  of 
his  ability.  Most  of  them  are  so  clear  that  the  best 
of  results  must  follow  if  faithfully  used.  These  reme- 
dies form  the  basis  of  all  true  sanitarium  practice,  but 
contain  only  a  small  part  of  the  procedures.  It  is  a 
great  help  to  the  invalid  to  place  himself  in  some  good 
institution  and  permit  himself  to  be  trained  into  habits 
which  make  health  as  contagious  as  disease. 

Sunbaths. 

Sunbaths  should  be  recommended  in  every  case  of 
malnutrition,  anemia,  and  neurasthenia,  (nervous  pros- 
tration), blood  poisoning,  etc.  In  weakened  run-down 
conditions  of  the  body  they  put  the  energy  that  is  in 
the  sun  directly  in  touch  with  the  enfeebled  powers 
of  the  body,  and  sometimes  work  wonders  in  restoring 


PHYSICAL  REMEDIES  FOR  DISEASES  1ST 

the  sick  to  health.  Dress  in  light  weight,  light  colored 
clothing,  and  expose  the  body  as  far  and  as  long  as 
possible  to  the  direct  rays  of  the  sun,  without  inducing 
a  feeling  of  depression.  Some  are  advocating  colored 
clothing  that  will  absorb  the  chemical  rays.  General 
Pleasanton,  about  fifty  years  ago,  said  much  about  the 
use  of  blue  glass.  Perhaps  this  is  a  very  good  sug- 
gestion where  the  extreme  rays  of  the  more  tropical 
regions  have  to  be  provided  against.  But  in  the  tem- 
perate regions  where  the  light  is  less  intense  the  aver- 
age invalid  may  need  the  action  of  these  same  chem- 
ical rays  to  help  purify  the  circulation. 

Amber  glasses  should  be  used  to  protect  the  eyes 
where  they  are  over-sensitive  to  sunlight.  Smoked 
glasses  weaken  the  eyes.  The  amber  glass  cuts  out 
only  the  irritating  rays. 

Always  protect  the  head  and  face  from  the  direct 
rays.  If  the  weather  is  hot  wear  a  cork  hat,  or  use 
an  umbrella.  Put  the  head  under  the  shade  of  a  tree 
with  the  body  in  the  sun.  Lie  in  the  sunlight  on  a 
cot.  Walk  in  the  sunlight,  sit  in  it,  ride  in  it,  go  out 
and  work  moderately  in  it.  There  is  life  in  its  mod- 
erate beams.  When  it  reaches  a  temperature  near  that 
of  the  body  it  becomes  depressing,  if  long  continued. 
Then  seek  the  shade,  but  not  the  darkness.  The  eyes 
must  be  protected  from  rays  reflected  from  the  water 
or  from  newly  fallen  snow,  or  the  yellow  sheen  ct 
ripened  vegetation.  Electric  light  baths  are  a  fair 
substitute  for  sunbaths  in  winter.  Of  course  they  are 
not  usually  to  be  had  except  in  some  well-equipped 
institution,  or  in  some  city  home  where  there  is  access 
to  an  electric  current. 


158  ESSENTIALS    To    LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

Rest  Cure. 

Get  the  patient's  mind  occupied  with  something  be- 
side his  own  troubles.  Change  is  rest.  Take  him  out 
riding.  Read  something  interesting.  Repeat  some 
pleasantries.  Give  him  something  new  and  fresh  to 
think  about.  Open  some  hopeful  prospects  before 
him.  Encourage  him  to  plan  for  something  better. 
Make  him  feel  sure  that  he  is  to  be  well  cared  for. 
Take  away  every  possible  incentive  to  worry.  If  you 
are  a  Christian  and  he  is  not  a  blasphemer,  labor  to 
have  him  feel  a  sense  of  creative  power  still  working 
and  caring  for  the  universe,  the  world  and  for  man- 
kind, and  thus  draw  him  toward  the  Creator.  If  po.^- 
sible  give  him  a  fevv  evening  lessons  in  outdoor  astron- 
omy. Read  to  him  deliberately  Psalm  37,  Matthew 
11,  last  verses,  and  all  the  kindred  expressions  you 
can  find.  Get  all  the  legitimate  "don't  worry"  litera- 
ture you  can  before  his  mind.  Teach  him  physical 
relaxation ;  to  let  his  muscles  become  limp,  to  be  de- 
liberate in  all  his  movements.  If  the  day  is  gloomy 
and  the  circumstances  depressing  introduce  songs  to 
enliven  the  spirits.  God's  word  has  cheer  and  hope  for 
every  hour  of  affliction,  and  it  is  our  privilege  "To 
comfort  them  which  are  in  any  trouble  by  the  comfort 
wherewith  we  ourselves  have  been  comforted  of  God." 
II  Cor.  1 :4.  Sometimes  it  is  best  to  leave  the  healthy 
individual  for  a  time  alone  with  his  sorrow ;  but  the 
chronic  invalid  needs  good  hopeful,  joyous,  not  hilar- 
ious, company.  Let  the  nurse  and  friends  and  physi- 
cian keep  on  hand  a  full  supply  of  social  sunshine. 
Every  earthly  resource  will  sometimes  be  exhausted 
in  the  effort  to  dispel  the  gloom  that  comes  to  a  cer- 


PHYSICAL  REMEDIES  FOR  DISEASES  159 

tain  class  of  invalids.     But  heaven's  storehouse  is  al- 
ways full  and  he  who  will  may  draw. 

We  must  not  forget  that  in  almost  every  case  of 
chronic  illness  the  Law  of  Rest  should  first  of  all 
be  invoked.  The  physician  who  has  the  most  assur- 
ance and  good  cheer  in  his  mental  and  physical  make- 
up, other  things  being  equal,  will  have  the  greatest 
success.  Confidence  and  faith  in  the  physician  and 
nurse  must  be  inspired  in  the  patient.  He  must  be  led, 
if  possible,  to  lay  aside  all  care  and  anxiety,  and  rest 
without  fear.  Wrath,  jealousy,  envy,  grief  and  de- 
spair must  be  soothed  away.  These  emotions  breed 
death,  while  faith,  hope,  confidence,  love,  joy,  and 
peace  generate  conditions  which  tend  toward  life  both 
here  and  hereafter.  Oftentimes  all  the  doctor  needs 
to  give  is  large  doses  of  assurance  seasoned  with  a 
little  sympathy  and  a  few  bread  pills  and  a  few  days 
of  physical  and  mental  rest.  If  the  patient  can  be 
induced  to  adopt  the  Scripture  sentiment,  "I  will  both 
lay  me  down  in  peace  and  sleep  for  thou,  Lord,  only 
makest  me  to  dwell  in  safety,"  it  will  have  a  pro- 
foundly benign  influence  on  his  case.  Rest  in  all  its 
forms  is  the  real  cure  for  most  of  our  maladies.  How- 
to  train  the  people  into  it  is  the  greatest  problem  which 
the  real  Christian  workers  have  in  hand  at  the  present 
time.  The  real  purpose  of  a  large  part  of  the  remedies 
we  are  outlining  in  this  chapter  is  to  give  the  body 
immediate  physical  rest.  But  let  the  mind  be  brought 
under  the  sweet  peace  of  quietness  and  assurance  and 
hope  first  of  all,  and  the  victory  is  organized  in  almost 
everv  case. 


160  ESSENTIALS    TO    LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

The  Use  of  Air  or  Breathing  as  a  Remedy. 

To  show  the  importance  of  this  subject,  it  will  be 
necessary  to  speak  briefly  of  the  two  divisions  of  the 
nervous  system.  One  class  consists  of  the  sensory 
and  motor  nerves.  The  sensory  receive  impressions 
through  the  senses,  and  the  motor  have  control  of  all 
the  voluntary  actions  of  the  body.  They  are  chiefly 
under  control  of  the  will.  The  voluntary  muscles  are 
all  completely  under  their  management.  They  have 
their  centers  in  the  fore  part  of  the  brain. 

The  other  class  called  the  vital,  and  sometimes  the 
sympathetic  nerves,  are  entirely  independent  of  the 
will.  They  have  their  centers  mostly  in  the  back  part 
of  the  brain,  and  control  all  the  involuntary  organs  of 
the  body.  I^'.very  vital  organ,  lungs,  liver,  spleen, 
bowels,  kidneys  and  all,  obey  the  impulses  of  these 
nerves.  They  keep  right  on  whether  we  wake  or 
sleep,  whether  we  will  or  not.  They  manage  all  the 
glands  and  veins  and  arteries,  indeed  everything  ]^er- 
taining  to  the  care  of  the  body.  All  repair  work  and 
throwing  out  of  waste  is  under  their  control.  For  the 
great  vital  organs  this  work  is  chiefly  done  through  a 
substation  known  as  Solar  Plexus,  just  back  of  the  pit 
of  the  stomach.  This  bundle  of  nerves  is  sometimes 
called  the  abdominal  brain.  Through  it  the  brain  cells 
distribute  the  energy  to  all  the  vital  organs.  Weariness 
in  this  nerve  bundle  and  in  the  stomach  is  what  some- 
times makes  the  "pit  of  the  stomach"  so  tender.  A 
sharp  blow  received  here  lessens  the  action  of  every 
vital  organ,  and  sometimes  suspends  the  heart  and 
diaphragm. 

Now  we  come  to  the  application.     If  one  uses  the 


PHYSICAL  REMEDIES  FOK  DISEASES  161 

front  part  of  the  brain  in  studying,  worrying,  and  fret- 
ting, and  keeps  up  the  grind  until  the  nervous  energy 
is  exhausted,  there  will  not  be  sufficient  power  left 
to  enable  the  vital  nerves  to  carry  on  their  work,  and 
very  soon  the  nutrition,  and  depuration  of  the  body 
will  lag  and  sickness  must  follow.  There  must  be  suf- 
ficient rest  given  the  sensory  and  motor  system  to 
give  time  and  provide  energy  for  the  laboratory  work 
of  the  stomach,  liver  and  bowels  to  be  thoroughly 
done,  or  the  machinery  must  cease  to  repair  itself  and 
run  down.  Then  will  follow  a  multitude  of  ills  en  fl- 
ing possibly  in  nervous  prostration. 

The  second  point  we  wish  to  make  in  our  present 
lesson  is  the  fact  that  the  diaphragm,  the  leading  set 
of  muscles  of  the  body,  is  at  the  command  of  both 
sets  of  nerves.  It  is  fully  under  the  control  and  direc- 
tion of  the  vital  nerves.  It  is  also  possible  for  the 
will  to  step  in  and  take  full  management  of  this  lead- 
ing set  of  vital  muscles  and  through  it  exercise  con- 
trol over  most  of  the  vital  functions  of  the  body  and 
extend  its  influence  to  all.  The  will  may  be  made  to 
keep  control  until  the  diaphragm  becomes  strong  and 
vigorous  in  its  action  and  completely  able  to  carry 
on  successfully  its  work  of  stimulating,  working,  and 
developing  all  the  vital  organs.  This  physiological 
fact  exalts  the  will  to  its  true  position  of  supreme  c(-)n- 
trol  of  all  the  bodily  functions.  These  thoughts  will 
grow  on  the  intelligent  reader  as  he  begins  to  practice 
the  following  exercises,  and  reflects  on  the  results.  For 
evidence  that  the  diaphragm  is  the  leader  of  all  the 
muscles  see  "Law  of  Breathing." 

We  may  now  understand  why  the  man  lives  when  he 
gets  his  "mind  made  up"  to  live.     In  a  spiritless,  dis- 


162  ESSENTIALS    TO    LIffE    AND    HEALTH 

couraged  frame  of  mind  the  man  forgets  to  breathe,  the 
vital  machinery  runs  down,  and  the  man  dies.  When 
the  will  can  be  aroused  to  assert  itself,  the  man  begins 
to  think,  and  hope,  and  plan,  and  breathe,  and  then  he 
lives.  This  is  the  secret  of  will  power  in  its  relation 
to  health.    It  simply  rouses  the  vital  functions. 

Development  of  Breathing  Power. 

Now  we  are  ready  to  consider  diaphragm  gymnas- 
tics which  are  the  most  useful  exercises  that  can  be 
taught    to    the    average    invalid. 

Panting  or  Vibratory  Breathing.  Begin  with  short, 
rapid  breathing.  Do  all  your  breathing  through  the 
nostrils.  Breathe  so  as  to  produce  a  quick  and  steady 
up  and  down  action  of  the  diaphragm,  and  a  corre- 
sponding contraction  and  expansion  of  the  waist  line 
and  abdominal  muscles.  This  exercise  should  be  taken 
with  the  waist  line  absolutely  free.  On  retiring  and 
just  before  rising  are  good  times  to  learn  and  practice 
this  lesson.  You  may  call  it  panting  or  vibratory 
breathing,  as  you  choose.  The  main  impulse  is  at  the 
pit  of  the  stomach  and  waist  line,  but  it  extends  to 
every  part  of  the  abdomen.  This  fully  takes  the  place 
of  all  mechanical  vibration  to  these  parts  and  is  far 
more  effective,  because  it  puts  new  life  into  the  hither- 
to flabby  muscles  of  the  diaphragm  and  makes  the 
diaphragm  capable  of  carrying  on  its  involuntary  work 
vigorously  and  steadily.  The  writer  began  to  practice 
this  form  of  breathing  in  1865  and  has  been  teaching 
it  ever  since. 

Forced  Exhalation.  After  panting  for  half  a  minute 
or  so,  then  expel  all  the  air  possible  from  the  lungs 


PHYSICAL,  REMEDIES  FOR  DISEASES  163 

and  hold  the  breath  out  as  long  as  possible  without 
discomfort. 

Forced  Inhalation.  W'^hen  the  breath  has  been  held 
out  for  a  short  time,  then  take  in  a  full  vigorous  in- 
halation, holding  the  breath  in,  shrugging  and  twist- 
ing the  shoulders  at  the  same  time.  Hold  as  long  as 
comfortable,  then  let  the  breath  out,  rest  a  moment 
and  repeat. 

This  triple  breathing  exercise  will  prove  to  be  the 
most  important  factor  after  diet  in  the  cure  of  dyspep- 
sia, constipation,  liver  troubles,  anemia,  lung  consump- 
tion, and  prolapse  of  the  stomach,  abdominal  and  pel- 
vic organs.  Study  these  breathing  exercises  and  prac- 
tice them  faithfully,  as  though  your  life  depended  on 
it,  for  it  does.  Women  wnll  have  to  suspend  all  cloth- 
ing from  the  shoulders  and  give  full  freedom  to  the 
waist  line.  It  will  take  some  time  for  the  veteran  cor- 
set wearers  to  restore  the  diaphragm  to  natural  ac- 
tivity. 

Let  us,  for  a  moment,  further  study  the  breathing 
organs  and  the  breathing  act.  The  chest  cavity  is  an 
airtight  compartment  containing  the  heart  and  lungs. 
The  meat  pipe  passes  through  it  to  the  stomach.  It 
is  surrounded  by  a  firm  casing  formed  by  the  ribs  and 
shoulder  blades  and  collar  bones.  The  only  opening 
into  it  in  any  sense  is  the  trachea  which  conveys 
air  to  the  lungs ;  but  the  lungs  do  not  open  in  any  way 
into  the  cavity.  The  air  enters  the  lungs  and  returns 
through  the  trachea.  The  Hoor  of  this  cavity 
is  the  diaphragm  which  rises  and  falls  with  every 
natural  breath.  When  the  diaphragm  pulls  downward 
it  also  broadens  at  its  base,  thus  enlarging  the  waist 
line  and  tends  to  produce  a  vacuum  in  the  chest  and 


164  ESSENTIALS    TO    LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

this  expansion  of  the  chest  draws  the  air  into  the 
lungs.  When  the  diaphragm  rises  it  relieves  the 
vacuum  tendency,  the  waist  line  shrinks  back,  and  the 
air  is  expelled  from  the  lungs.  This  natural  breathing 
act  also  involves  the  abdomen  and  sets  up  a  sort 
of  see-saw  between  the  diaphragm  above  and  the  abdo- 
minal muscles  below  and  in  front.  The  diaphragm 
pulls  downward,  pressing  the  abdominal  contents 
against  the  abdominal  muscles,  placing  them  on  some- 
thing of  a  tension.  Then  the  diaphragm  relaxes  back 
to  its  position  of  rest  and  the  abdominal  muscles,  by 
natural  contraction,  and  in  forced  exhalation,  by  will 
power,  lift  the  abdominal  contents  backward  and  up- 
ward toward  the  chest  cavity.  This  keeps  all  the  abdo- 
minal contents  in  constant  motion,  back  and  forth,  up 
and  down.  Every  domestic  animal  breathes  fully  and 
freely  from  arm  pits  to  hips.  Little  girls  and  boys 
breathe  in  this  manner.  Men  do  unless  they  have  been 
sustaining  their  lower  garments  with  a  belt  instead  of 
suspenders.  In  civilized  womanhood  we  generally  find 
the  corsets  or  waist  bands  have  restrained  the  action 
of  the  diaphragm  until  the  upper  chest  muscles  have 
acquired  the  art  of  expansion  and  contraction,  the 
waist  line  is  stationary  and  the  abdominal  organs  are 
pressed  downward  and  held  there  until  the  abdominal 
muscles  have  lost  their  contractibility  and  all  the  or- 
gans are  prolapsed.  The  roof  of  the  chest  cavity,  which 
is  quite  firm  and  inelastic,  is  made  to  rise  and  fall  in- 
stead of  the  floor,  which  is  nothing  but  a  system  of 
broad  elastic  muscles.  Thus  the  whole  act  of  breathing 
is  reversed  and  the  digestive  organs  which  need  the 
wave-like  motion  imparted  to  them  by  the  natural  ac- 
tion of  the  diaphragm  are  left  inert  or  rather  held  in 


PHYSICAL  REMEDIES  FOR  DISEASES  165 

the  grip  of  the  corset  and  waist  band.  This  process 
of  breaking  up  the  natural  way  of  breathing  and  bring- 
in£r  about  this  debilitated  state  of  the  vital  domain 
would  be  intolerable  if  women  waited  until  they  were 
twenty  years  of  age.  The  little  girl  must  be  taken 
while  the  body  is  plastic  and  growing  or  it  would  be 
a  very  painful  ordeal. 

Now  to  correct  the  unnatural  conditions  do  your 
best  to  get  the  diaphragm  at  every  breath  to  pull 
downward  so  as  at  first  to  slightly  expand  the  waist- 
line, holding  down,  if  necessary,  the  upper  chest  ex- 
pansion. The  main  effort  will  be  to  get  the  diaphragm 
to  wake  up  and  once  more  become  strong  and  active 
as  it  was  in  the  little  girl.  Just  stand  a  little  eight- 
year-old  girl  before  you  and  see  how  the  waist  line 
expands  and  contracts  at  every  breath.  After  getting 
a  little  expansive  movement  at  the  waist  line  then 
try  to  draw  in  the  abdomen  and  force  the  air  out.  If 
you  have  difficulty  securing  control  make  a  little  ex- 
pulsive cough  and  feel  with  the  hand  how  it  affects 
the  waist  line  at  the  pit  of  the  stomach.  This  will 
give  you  a  start.  This  triple  breathing  practice  means 
the  enlargement  of  the  waist  line,  the  strengthening 
of  all  the  muscles  of  breathing,  and  the  increasing  of 
the  activity  of  all  the  blood  making  organs  and  the 
energizing  of  the  whole  body.  Vibratory  breathing 
is  the  true  form  of  vibration  and  will  take  the  place  of 
mechanical  vibration,  though  there  may  be  cases  that 
would  be  benefitted  by  using  both  together  on  the 
start. 

One  point  we  have  not  emphasized  sufficiently.  The 
solar  plexus  lies  right  back  of  the  pit  of  the  stomach. 
This    is   the    chief   center,    as    we    have    alreadv    said, 


166         ESSENTIALS    TO    LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

through  which  the  brain  runs  the  heart,  hmgs,  Hver. 
spleen,  bowels,  and  kidneys.  There  are  other  plexuses 
which  help  control  the  heart  and  lungs  and  the  lower 
abdominal  contents.  All  these  get  much  of  their  stim- 
ulus from  the  breathing  act.  The  writer  knows  from 
actual  experiment  that  vibration  of  the  solar  plexus 
will  do  much  to  quiet  the  sympathetic  action  of  a  dis- 
turbed heart.  This  round  of  exercises,  vibratory 
breathing,  forced  inhalation  and  forced  exhalation,  will 
strengthen  every  part  of  the  vital  nervous  system  most 
wonderfully  through  these  centers  we  have  just  men- 
tioned. Don't  forget  this  point. 

Caution — don't  overdo.  Little  and  often  is  the  law  of 
all  exercise.  Whether  you  are  well  or  sick,  after  a 
few  weeks'  careful  practice  you  will  find  yourself 
greatly  improved.  The  writer  has  several  friends, 
any  one  of  whom  can  lie  on  his  back  and 
let  a  man  of  his  own  weight  stand  with  both  feet  just 
below  the  solar  plexus  and  he  can  toss  him  up  and 
down  with  ease.  All  that  has  ever  been  done  to  de- 
velop this  power  is  the  simple  vibratory  breathing. 

Weight- Lifting, 

A  most  important  procedure.  While  lying  on  the 
back  place  a  weight  of  from  ten  to  fifteen  pounds  a 
little  below  the  pit  of  the  stomach  and  try  to  raise  it 
with  the  taking  in  of  the  breath.  The  nicest  weight 
to  use  is  a  small  canvas  bag  about  half  full  of  shot. 
Coarse  clean  gravel  will  do  just  as  well.  Practice  this 
until  the  muscles  are  a  little  weary,  three  times  each 
day.  It  will  be  a  wonderful  aid  in  restoring  strength 
to  the  diaphragm. 


PHYSICAL  REMEDIES  FOR  DISEASES  1«.T 

Acquiring  Chest  Poise  and  Development. 

Wing  Movement.  Extend  the  arms  sidewise  on  a 
level  with  the  shoulders.  Now  describe  a  circle  about 
one  foot  or  more  in  diameter  with  the  finger  tips,  hold- 
ing the  arms  straight.  Make  the  circle  by  bringing 
arms  forward  and  upward,  and  backward  and  down- 
ward. At  the  same  time  the  arms  rise  breathe  in  a 
full,  strong  breath  (always  through  the  nose).  As 
they  go  downward  on  the  back  part  of  the  circle, 
breathe'  out;  keep  the  chin  well  drawn  in,  and  the 
shoulders  back,  and  work  this  exercise  until  the  arms 
begin  to  get  quite  heavy.  Repeat  frequently  during 
the  day. 

Lung  Packing.  Standing  erect  with  the  arms  at 
the  side,  bring  the  finger  tips  to  the  arm  pits,  letting 
the  elbows  extend  straight  out  sidewise.  At  the  same 
time  as  the  finger  tips  come  up,  take  in  about  a  halt 
a  breath.  Hold  this  breath  in  and  let  the  hands  drop 
down  again  to  the  side.  Repeat  this  three  times,  the 
last  time  taking  in  all  the  breath  possible.  Then 
holding  the  fingers  still  at  the  arm  pits  and  holding 
the  breath  shrug  the  shoulders  for  a  moment  till  the 
lung  tissues  have  had  a  chance  to  expand.  Then  lower 
the  hands  letting  out  the  breath  at  the  same  time.  In 
saying  take  in  all  the  breath  possible,  we  do  not  mean 
that  you  should  strain  the  lungs. 

This  system  of  exercise,  Panting,  Forced  Exhala- 
tion, Forced  Inhalation,  Weight-Lifting,  Wing  Move- 
ment and  Lung  Packing,  will  be  found  always  in  order. 
They  may  be  taught  in  a  modified  form,,  even  to  every 
bed-ridden  invalid. 

A  condition  of  the  vital  organs  in  which  deep,  full, 
thorough,   vigorous    breathing   will   continuously   pre- 


168  ESSENTIALS    TO    LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

vail,  is  the  end  to  be  attained  in  these  exercises.  Once 
gained  the  battle  for  health  is  practically  won.  Then 
less  thought  will  be  required  in  caring  for  the  body, 
for  it  will  run  itself.  Especially  should  they  be  taught 
in  cases  of  poor  nutrition,  lung  trouble,  nervous  pros- 
tration and  anemia.  In  sympathetic  heart  affections 
use  panting  and  grow  carefully  into  the  others.  Vi- 
bration of  the  solar  plexus  will  often  quiet  a  disturbed 
heart.  Panting  accomplishes  this.  If  the  lung  tissues 
have  been  strained  by  glass  blowing  or  other  similar 
work,  be  careful  in  recommending  these  exercises.  In 
such  a  case  only  gentle,  full  breathing  should  be  in- 
dulged, with  gentle  panting.  In  organic  heart  troubles 
steady,  even  gentle,  full,  breathing  will  be  found  best. 
In  consumption  use  the  caution  to  begin  gently  and 
increase  the  exertion  as  the  patient  improves. 

Air  Bath  or  Dry  Mitten  Friction. 

This  is  an  excellent  skin  stimulant,  almost  equal  to 
a  water  bath ;  better  in  many  cases  where  the  patient 
is  feeble  and  takes  cold  from  the  slightest  causes.  It 
is  an  excellent  thing  to  begin  with,  in  "run  down" 
cases.  On  rising  and  retiring  with  the  room  fairly 
comfortable,  take  an  ordinary  turkish  towel  or  a  me- 
dium flesh  brush,  and  go  thoroughly  over  every  part 
of  the  surface,  spending  several  minutes  until  the  body 
is  all  aglow.  Follow  with  a  touch  of  alboline  or  cocoa- 
nut  oil,  or  olive  oil  all  over  the  surface.  For  very 
sensitive  people  this  is  better  than  a  cold  morning 
sponge  bath.  If  taken  at  night  no  oil,  except  in  very 
feeble  cases  is  necessary. 


PHYSICAL  REMEDIES  FOR  DISEASES  169 

Electric  Pads. 

The  most  modern  and  most  convenient  method  of 
applying  heat,  where  the  electric  current  can  be  se- 
cured, is  the  electric  heating  pad.  If  dry  heat  is 
wanted  use  the  pad  dry.  If  moist  heat,  place  next  the 
skin  a  cloth  wrung  out  of  warm  water  and  place  the 
pad  over  it,  covering  all  with  a  large,  thick  blanket  of 
flannel.  This  is  not  materially  better  than  the  hot 
water  bottle,  except  it  is  lighter  and  may  be  kept  con- 
tinuously hot  with  less  trouble. 

Reactions. 

A  few  remarks  on  this  important  topic  before  we 
enter  upon  the  study  of  heat  and  cold,  as  remedies, 
will  help  the  reader  to  appreciate  some  of  the  results 
that  may  be  obtained  in  the  uses  of  water  of  difYercnt 
temp'natures. 

Whenever  any  portion  of  the  body  is  exposed  to  heat 
for  any  brief  length  of  time  the  blood  is  drawn  to 
the  part  involved,  the  blood  and  lymph  vessels  and 
glands  become  distended  and  there  is  a  ruddy  glow 
in  the  skin.  Soon  after  the  heat  is  withdrawn  the  tis- 
sues shrink  and  the  blood  recedes  away  from  the  part 
that  has  been  over-heated  and  the  part  becomes  cold, 
or  cooler  than  usual.  If,  on  the  contrary,  cold  is  ap- 
plied just  the  opposite  effects  follow.  These  are  called 
reactions.  By  changing  from  heat  to  cold  suddenly 
five  or  six  times  in  succession  the  reaction  to  warmth 
may  be  very  much  intensified  and  the  after  effects 
greatly  prolonged.  By  thus  increasing  the  capacity 
of  the  veins  and  arteries  and  lymph  \  essels  and  glands 
in  any  part  the  nutrition  of  the  ])art  is  better  provided 
for. 

12 


170  ESSENTIALrS    TO    LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

\ 

If  a  high  degree  of  heat  is  applied  for  a  long  time, 

say  half  an  hour  or  longer,  the  temperature  sense  will 
lessen  the  blood  supply  and  all  the  tissues  involved  will 
become  depleted  and  shrunken.  A  high  degree  of  cold 
long  continued,  will  produce  a  shriveled  condition  of 
the  parts  but  nature  lessens  the  supply  of  blood  in  this 
case  because  it  is  compelled  to  by  the  cold  instead 
of  lessening  the  supply  because  it  is  not  needed  to  keep 
up  the  heat.  The  power  in  the  body  may  be  hindered 
in  its  efforts  to  get  the  blood  to  flow  to  the  parts  that 
are  exposed  to  the  cold  until  the  tissues  become  dis- 
eased or  at  least  greatly  enfeebled. 

Again,  just  enough  coolness  may  be  continuously 
applkd  to  the  surface  to  induce  nature  to  put  up  a 
strong  fight  to  keep  the  surface  warm.  This  will  per- 
manently increase  the  capacity  of  the  blood  and  lymph 
vessels  of  the  skin  and  underlying  tissue.  The  con- 
tinuous temperature  best  suited  to  accomplish  this 
end  ranges  from  97°  down  to  about  94°. 

Each  of  these  procedures  will  become  necessary  in 
the  various  cases  of  disturbed  circulation  with  which 
we  shall  meet,  and  we  shall  find  use  for  even  the  long- 
continued  application  of  cold  in  fevers  and  germ  in- 
fections. 

Water  as  a  Medicine. 

Drinking.  If  a  body  weighs  one  hundred  and  fift}' 
pounds  it  contains  one  hundred  and  twenty  pounds  of 
water.  Now,  if  a  person  of  this  weight  drinks  one 
pint  (one  pound)  of  water  daily,  it  will  take  one  hu.n- 
dred  and  twenty  days  to  renew  the  water  in  that  body. 
If  he  drinks  two  pints  daily,  it  will  take  sixty  days 
to  renew  the  fluid  in  the  system.    Wouldn't  you  think 


PHYSICAL  REMEDIES  FOR  DISEASES  171 

water  would  get  a  little  old  and  stale  doing  so  much 
work  of  washing-  as  it  has  to,  in  sixty  days?  But  sup- 
pose four  pints  are  used  daily,  it  will  take  thirty  days 
to  renew  the  lluid.  If  six  pints  are  used  daily,  it  will 
take  about  three  weeks  to  thoroughl}-  renew  the  body 
Huids.  This  is  about  the  proper  amount  of  lluid  for 
an  average  man.  This  calculation  is  on  the  supposi- 
tion that  the  person  is  using  only  dry  foods.  In  hot 
weather  more  will  be  required.  We  talk  about  blood 
purifiers  in  the  form  of  drugs  and  decoctions.  There 
is  no  such  thing  except  in  water  and  air  and  pure  food. 
You  can  wash  out  the  poison  from  your  blood  just  as 
easily  and  readily  as  you  can  wash  oft"  the  soil  from 
your  exterior,  providing  the  body  has  a  moderate' 
amount  of  vitality  left.  You  may  talk  about  water 
as  a  sudorific  (  a  sweat  producer),  you  may  call  it  a 
diuretic  (an  increaser  of  urine),  you  may  say  it  is  an 
expectorant  .(a  cough  loosener),  you  may  call  it  a 
cathartic  (a  bowel  loosener),  and  so  on,  but  all  these 
multiplied  w^ords  do  not  add  to  the  usefulness  of  water. 
The  simple  language  of  everyday  science  may  still 
say  that  pure  water  is  the  greatest  purifier  and  elimi- 
nator for  the  human  body  that  is  known  to  mankind. 

External  Use  of  Water. 

Cool  hand  bathing  is  best  taken  on  rising,  in  a  warm 
room.  Water  should  be  used  at  a  temperature  of  hO 
to  70  degrees.  Feeble  patients  or  those  who  are  below 
normal  should  begin  with  the  higher  temperature.  Dip 
the  hands  in  water  and  briskly  rub  the  arms  and  chest 
and  abdomen.  You  may  use  a  bath  mitten  if  you  pre- 
fer. Then  wipe  these  parts  and  proceed  to  others, 
drying  each  part  as  you  go.  At  the  close  rub  vigorously 


172  ESSENTIALS    TO    IJFE    AND    HEALTH 

willi  a  good  moderately  coarse  towel ;  close  with  a 
touch  of  oil  all  over  the  body.  This  last  suggestion 
is  especially  important  in  cold  or  damp  weather.  A 
thin  coat  of  oil  is  almost  equal  to  an  overcoat  in  chilly 
weather.  In  very  hot  climates  it  acts  as  a  cooler 
through  assisting  radiation.  From  week  to  week  the 
temperature  of  the  water  may  be  lowered^  as  the  vital 
resistance  is  increased.  This  bath,  which  need  occupy 
not  more  than  ten  minutes,  is  better  taken  in  the 
morning  than  in  the  evening,  but  better  taken  at  night 
than  not  at  all.  This  precaution  carefully  followed 
is  one  of  the  very  best  things  to  prevent  colds,  bron- 
chitis, sore  throat,  grip  and  consumption.  It  simply 
trains  the  blood  to  flow  through  the  skin  and  pre\ents 
internal  congestion  or  taking  cold. 

Cool  shower  bath.  This  or  a  cool  pour  or  spray 
are  about  as  good  as  a  cool  sponge  or  hand  bath,  espe- 
cially if  the  spray  comes  with  some  force.  The  cool 
plunge  or  tub  bath  either  are  excellent  for  those  who 
are  fairly  strong.  Use  same  temperatures  as  for  cool 
hand  or  sponge  bath. 

Fomentation  or  Applications  of  Heat  and  Water. 

Moist  heat  is  well  applied  by  heavy  blanket  flannel  cut 
in  yard  squares  or  less  and  folded  to  meet  the  wants 
of  the  case.  Take  one  end  in  each  hand  after  folding, 
dip  the  middle  in  boiling  hot  water,  then  wring  by  the 
ends,  by  twisting  and  ])ulling.  Lay  a  dry  flannel  next 
the  skin  and  ajiply  this  over  it.  Put  a  cover  over  all,  of 
heavy  woolen,  to  keep  in  the  heat,  but  don't  blister 
your  patient.  Change  every  five  minutes.  Moist  heat 
is  the  best  for  most  cases  of  pain,  especially  pleurisy. 
Dry  heat  can  be  applied  by  any  convenient  means,  but 


PHYSICAIv   REMEDIES  FOR  DISEASES  173 

the  best  is  a  large  rubber  hot-water  bottle.  Hot  stove 
griddles  or  bricks,  or  hot  plates  wrapped  in  paper  and 
cloth,  or  salt  and  sand  bags,  or  a  soapstone  or  a  hoi 
block  of  wood,  anything  may  be  improvised  under 
forced  circumstances  to  convey  heat.  Either  moist  or 
dry  heat  is  the  best  means  known  for  relieving  most 
cases  of  pain.  Cold,  in  a  few  cases,  will  be  best.  In 
some  cases  alternations. 

These  consist  of  fomentations  changed  to  ice  or  cold 
water  every  five  minutes,  just  for  one-half  to  one  min- 
ute. Use  a  towel  wrung  out  of  ice  water  or  use  the 
ice.  Repeat  from  four  to  six  times.  For  the  feet  two 
buckets  of  water,  one  as  hot  as  can  be  borne  and  one 
as  cold  as  you  can  get.  Change  back  and  forth  for 
twenty  or  thirty  minutes,  dipping  in  the  cold  water 
last,  just  for  half  a  minute,  then  rub  dry.  This  is  the 
best  and  only  quick  remedy  for  chilblains.  Four  treat- 
ments will  cure.  This  is  a  great  remedy  for  cold  limbs 
and  feet.  When  thus  applied  it  helps  out  wonderfully 
in  relieving  bronchitis  and  all  congestions  of  the  head 
and  upper  part  of  the  body,  by  taking  the  blood  away 
to  the  extremities.  In  suminer  in  our  climate  G(k1 
daily  gives  us  alternations  of  heat  and  cold,  to  keep 
us  toned  up.  We  may  intensify  these  applications  and 
apply  them  locally  with  great  advantage  to  any  part 
that  needs  special  aid  for  the  circulation. 

Salt  Glows. 

These  arc  gi\cn  l)y  wrtting  tlic  surface  of  the 
body,  and  then  rubbing  all  over  with  dr\'  fine  salt  : 
or  if  the  salt  be  coarse  make  it  cpiite  wet.  If  very 
thorough  results  are  wanted,  give  a  full  bath  at  \(X) 
degrees  f(^r  five  to  ten  minutes,  then  stand  the  patient 


174  ESSENTIALS    TO    LIFE    AND     HEALTH 

Up  in  the  bath  and  apply  the  salt.  Spray  or  rinse  the 
salt  off,  cooling  down  ten  to  fifteen  degrees  as  the 
patient  can  bear.  Always  give  oil  rub  to  close.  This 
is  one  of  the  best  means  known  to  increase  the  activity 
of  the  skin,  especially  in  bronchial  and  liver  difficulties. 
Three  times  a  week  is  often  enough. 

Cold  Mitten  Friction. 

Stand  your  patient  in  a  warm  foot  bath,  in  a  warm 
room,  put  on  a  pair  of  turkish  mittens,  dip  the  hands 
into  ice  water  and  rub  your  patient  briskly,  first  arms, 
then  legs,  then  chest  and  back;  wipe  dry,  rubbing  thor- 
oughly and  finish  with  a  touch  of  oil  well  distributed 
with  the  hands.  Most  excellent  for  all  forms  of  in- 
ternal congestion,  and  whenever  the  skin  is  cold  and 
inactive.  A  sovereign  remedy  for  chronic  malaria. 
Sometimes  it  is  best  to  give  the  patient  a  short  hot  bath 
first. 

Ice  Poultice. 

Put  coarse  bits  of  ice  between  two  thicknesses  of 
Turkish  towelling.  Wring  out  occasionally  to  pre- 
vent dripping  from  the  towel.  Never  continue  more 
than  half  an  hour  without  changing  to  heat  for  three 
minutes.  Useful  in  fevers,  pneumonia,  diphtheria,  and 
appendicitis. 

TTie  Heating  Compress. 

Wring  out,  medium  dry,  cheese  cloth  or  any  light- 
weight cotton  or  linen  material  from  very  cold  water. 
Apply  three  or  four  thicknesses  over  the  part  where 
wanted.  Cover  this  with  a  sheet  of  oil-silk  or  rubber ; 
old    mackintosh    will    do    for   some    parts.     Over    this 


PHYSICAL  REMEDIES  FOR  DISEASES  175 

wrap  from  two  to  four  heavy  thicknesses  of  flannel, 
enough  broader  to  cover  the  dampness  well,  pinning 
it  on  snug  with  safety  pins.  It  should  warm  up  very 
nicely  in  a  short  time,  say  ten  or  fifteen  minutes. 
If  it  does  not  soon  become  comfortable  let  it  be 
removed  and  the  part  rubbed  thoroughly  dry.  This 
is  just  the  thing  to  follow  fomentations  to  the  throat, 
chest  and  abdomen  and  to  apply  to  the  joints  in 
rheumatism,  and  for  sprains  and  bruises,  to  remain 
on  all  night.  In  the  morning  remove  the  compress, 
bathe  with  cool  water,  rub  dry  and  use  oil.  This 
is  the  best  form  of  poultice.  Most  excellent  for 
croup.  This  remedy  is  the  most  effective  of  all  that 
are  used  by  medical  men  for  increasing  the  circula- 
tion in  any  part  of  the  body.  There  is  nothing  better 
for  sore  throat,  or  sprains  and  bruises ;  for  slow  liver 
and  stomach,  for  cold  in  the  head  and  headaches.  It 
makes  more  blood  flow  through  the  parts  to  and  over 
which  it  is  applied.  It  will  remove  recent  bony 
growths  by  causing  absorption.  Recent  ringbones  or 
bone  spavins  may  be  removed  from  a  horse.  Persist- 
ance  with  a  large  wet  sponge  and  a  light  wrap  for  six 
weeks  will  work  wonders.  Bind  the  sponge  on  the 
part,  then  pour  in  a  cup  of  cold  water  every  two  or 
three  hours.  The  fomentation  for  a  few  minutes  pre- 
ceding adds  to  the  effectiveness  of  the  heating  com- 
press. 

The  Abdominal  Girdle, 

This  is  one  of  the  most  effective  forms  of  the  heat- 
ing compress.  It  is  of  such  great  value  in  liver  and 
stomach  disorders  that  its  use  should  be  emphasized 
separately.     A  band  of  cheese  cloth,  long  enough  to 


176  ESSENTIALS    TO    LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

reach  entirely  about  the  waist,  folded  into  several 
thicknesses  so  as  to  l)c  four  to  seven  inches  wide,  is 
wrung  out  of  cold  water  and  snugly  drawn  about  the 
waist.  Over  this  is  placed  a  band  of  thin  rubber  cloth 
or  oiled  silk  aliout  ten  inches  in  width.  Outside  this 
again  is  the  double  or  triple  thickness  of  heavy  flannel, 
more  than  a  foot  in  width  pinned  on  closely.  This 
should  be  adjusted  on  retiring  and  worn  all  night. 
When  removed  in  the  morning  the  parts  that.  ha\e 
been  covered  should  be  thoroughly  bathed  with  cold 
water.  This  has  a  most  benign  influence  on  the  stom- 
ach, liver,  spleen,  kidneys  and  solar  plexus.  Should  be 
used  every  night  for  a  month  at  a  time  and  then 
discontinued  for  a  week  and  repeated.  Chronic  con- 
gestions are  greatly  relieved  in  these  parts  by  this 
procedure,  especially  if  preceded  by  very  hot  fomenta- 
tions. 

Neutral  Bath. 

The  patient  is  put  into  a  full  tub  of  water,  so  as  to 
entirely  cover  every  part  of  the  body.  Temperature 
for  a  feeble  patient  99  degrees  to  start,  letting  cool 
down  slowly  to  97  or  96  degrees  during  the  early 
part  of  the  time  the  patient  is  in  the  bath.  If  the 
l)atient  is  tolerably  strong,  start  in  at  98  degrees,  let 
it  cool  down  to  95  the  first  time.  Hold  the  water  at 
these  lower  temperatures  by  letting  in  just  a  little 
warm  water  and  stirring  it  with  a  dee])  underneath 
motion  toward  the  head  of  the  tul).  If  possible,  a 
blanket  should  be  spread  over  the  tub,  to  help  hold  the 
temperature.  Do  not  leave  the  patient  alone  for  one 
minute;  sometimes  he  will  go  to  sleej)  in  the  tub; 
sometimes   he   will   become   nervous.      After   from    30 


PHYSICAL  REMEDIES  FOR  DISEASES  177 

to  60  minutes  take  the  patient  out  of  the  bath  and 
dry  with  a  full  sheet  wrapped  about,  by  gently  patting. 
Use  no  friction  whatever.  The  nerves  must  not  be 
stirred  up.  Put  the  patient  to  bed  immediately,  well 
wrapped  up,  with  a  hot  water  bottle  to  the  feet.  The 
best  time  for  this  bath  is  in  the  evening  before  the 
usual  bedtime.  The  temperature  may  be  allowed  to 
run  down  as  low  as  94  or  93  degrees  with  tolerably 
strong  patients,  but  look  out  that  the  patient  does 
not  begin  to  complain  of  chilliness.  If  the  blood  is 
driven  away  from  the  skin  the  etifect  is  lost. 

The  philosophy  of  this  procedure  may  be  expressed 
by  saying  that  as  the  water  drops  below  the  tempera- 
ture of  the  body,  the  nervous  S3^stem  begins  to  put 
up  a  fight  to  keep  the  surface  temperature  up  to  the 
normal.  This  is  done  l)y  sending  more  blood  into  the 
skin.  This  is  one  of  the  finest  illustrations  of  natural 
stimulation,  to  the  circulation.  But  its  effect  on  the 
patient  is  sedative  in  that  it  takes  the  blood  away 
from  the  brain.  It  is  seldom  one  finds  a  tub  bath  deep 
enough  beneath  the  overflow  to  give  a  neutral  bath. 
The  whole  body  must  be  submerged.  So,  as  for  many 
other  treatments,  the  place  to  s^o  is  some  good  well 
e(]uipped  sanitarium.  It  requires  no  small  degree  of 
experienced  skill  to  watch  a  patient  successfully 
through  such  a  treatment,  and  accomplish  in  one  hour 
what  months  of  medicine  taking  has  failed  to  do.  lUit 
it  can  be  done,  and  when  one  has  had  the  experience 
of  getting  well  in  this  way,  he  will  feel  as  though  a 
new  era  has  dawned.  There  is  power  in  this  system 
to  conquer  many  hitherto  incurable  maladies.  Insomnia 
and  insanitv  should  bo  handled  with  this  remedv. 


178         ESSENTIAL,S    TO    LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

How  to  Give  a  Sweat. 

Give  the  patient  plenty  of  hot  water,  hot  herb 
tea  or  hot  lemonade,  to  drink.  Then  you  may  use 
one  of  several  methods.  First,  let  him  sit  in  a  tub 
of  hot  water  with  feet  in  a  foot  bath  a  little  warmer, 
and  keep  him  wrapped  well  with  three  or  four 
blankets.  Or,  second,  lay  several  blankets  on  the  bed, 
with  a  heavy  flannel  one  on  top.  Wring  a  light 
flannel  blanket  out  of  hot  water  as  you  would  a  fo- 
mentation cloth  (see  Fomentations).  Spread  this  out 
quickly  over  all.  Have  the  patient  lie  down  on  this, 
and  wrap  him  up  as  soon  as  possible ;  first  in  the 
hot  one,  quickly  bringing  it  close  about  the  whole 
body  from  neck  to  feet.  Have  ready  hot  water  spinal 
bottle  for  the  back  and  some  hot  bricks,  one  for  the 
feet,  one  for  each  side  at  the  ribs,  and  one  or  two 
outside  the  limbs.  See  that  they  are  wrapped  so  as 
not  to  burn  the  patient.  Put  these  quickly  in  place 
and  wrap  with  each  of  the  other  blankets  separately. 
Of  course  caution  and  judgment  must  be  used  in  not 
getting  the  hot  bricks  and  bottles  so  close  as  to  burn 
the  patient.     This  is  called  a  hot  blanket  pack. 

A  cold  sheet  pack  with  hot  water  bottles  or  bricks 
can  be  given  very  similarly.  Wring  a  cotton  sheet 
quite  dry  out  of  cold  water  and  use  instead  of  the  hot 
blanket.  Pack  the  limbs  and  sides  with  hot  water 
bottles  or  bricks  well  wrapped  as  before.  If  the  per- 
son is  fairly  strong  the  reaction  in  this  pack  will 
make  it  quite  as  effective  as  the  other.  In  high  fevers 
use  the  cold  sheet  with  only  a  hot  water  bottle  to  the 
feet.  This  pack  will  be  very  grateful  to  the  fever 
patient.  Or,  third,  let  the  patient  sit  in  a  chair  with 
his  feet  in  a  pail  of  water  as  hot  as  can  be  borne, 


PHYSICAL  REMEDIES  FOR  DISEASES  179 

wrapped  up  close  with  blankets  down  to  the  floor, 
put  underneath  the  chair  a  lighted  alcohol  lamp,  or  a 
pail  partly  filled  with  hot  water;  into  this  continue  to 
drop  hot  bricks  until  the  results  are  accomplished. 
Now  either  of  these  methods  will  bring  the  results, 
but  the  first  three  are  preferable.  The  patient  is  liable 
to  faint  in  the  fourth  on  account  of  the  more  erect 
posture.  In  either  case  let  the  patient  continue  to 
drink  after  getting  into  the  sweat. 

The  electric  light  bath  found  in  all  well  equipped 
sanitariums  is  the  most  effective  of  any  indoor  bath. 
It  works  rapidly  without  overheating  the  body  by 
direct  stimulation  of  the  sweat  glands.  But  the  best 
sweat  is  a  full  exposure,  except  the  head,  to  the  direct 
rays  of  the  sun,  under  a  temperature  of  85  to  90  de- 
grees F.,  or  even  higher,  after  the  free  use  of  fluids 
internally. 

After  sweating  sufficiently  to  meet  the  circum- 
stances of  the  case,  say  twenty  to  fort}-  minutes,  in 
a  few  cases  longer,  then  in  either  method  have  the 
room  especially  warm  on  taking  the  patient  out. 
Either  give  a  tub  bath,  or  sponge  bath,  or  spray  the 
patient  off,  or  dash  the  body  with  water  from  90  to 
75  degrees.  Wipe  dry,  finish  with  a  coat  of  oil  and 
put  him  to  bed,  even  in  the  day  time  for  a  few  hours, 
with  hot  water  bottles  or  bricks  to  the  feet. 

The  second  and  third  methods  are  usually  known 
as  hot  and  cold  packs.  A  full  hot  leg  bath  up  to  the 
knees  will  work  like  a  charm  in  many  cases,  if  the 
drinking  is  thoroughly  attended  to.  Sweating  is  espe- 
cially valuable  in  the  early  stage  of  fevers  and  in  colds 
and  la  grippe.     A  panacea  for  the  latter  if  taken  early. 


180  ESSENTIALS  TO  LIFE  AND    HEALTH 

Caution — Always    empty    the    bowels    with    a    full 
eiienia  before  a  sweat. 

Massage. 

This  is  a  system  of  manipulation  by  friction  strok- 
in^i^,  kneadini^,  wrin.s^int^-.  tapping,  beating,  spatting. 
A'ibration,  etc..  by  which  the  venous  blood  is  drawn 
and  pushed  along  the  veins  toward  the  heart.  The 
lymph  in  the  tissues  which  has  already  deposited  its 
burden  of  building  material  and  picked  up  its  load  of 
waste  is  urged  forward  toward  the  veins.  New  heal- 
ing material  from  the  arteries  is  also  pressed  forward, 
in  its  onward  progress  to  the  lymphatics,  wdiich  have 
already  been  cleared,  and  the  process  of  carrying  the 
newly  digested  and  aerated  building  material  to  all 
the  parts  where  it  is  needed  is  greatly  accelerated. 
The  nutrition  of  all  manipulated  parts  is  greatly  in- 
creased and  the  waste  removed.  Tt  is  a  most  thorough 
system  of  passive  exercise,  which  through  the  work 
of  another,  does  for  the  wdiole  body  what  ordinary 
active  exercises  would  accomplish  in  health.  It  is 
so  thorough  in  its  effects  that  the  body  ma}'  be  com- 
l)letely  tired  out  in  the  case  of  one  not  used  to  massage 
in  thirty  minutes  without  severe  efifort  on  the  part 
of  the  operator.  The  weariness,  as  in  all  other  cases, 
is  caused  by  the  setting  loose  into  the  blood  current 
of  those  poisons  and  waste  elements  which  have,  on 
account  of  slowness  of  circulation,  been  lingering  here 
and  there  in  the  system.  Tt  is  a  very  im])ortant  agency 
in  olfl  chronic  cases.  For  men  who  stick  to  sedentary 
employment  it  becomes  a  necessity.  If  properly  given 
it  is  very  soothing  to  nearly  all,  except  fever  patients, 
and  with  these  it  should  never  be  used. 


PHYSICAL  REMEDIES  FOR  DISEASES  181 

Swedish  Movements. 

These  consist  of  both  passive  and  resistive  move- 
ments of  the  joints.  They  do  for  the  ligaments  and 
cartilages  of  the  joints  what  massage  does  for  the  tis- 
sues which  may  be  reached  with  the  hands.  They 
consist  in  carefully,  thoroughly  rolling  and  stretching 
the  joints  in  every  proper  manner  to  start  the  circula- 
tion and  clear  out  the  waste  material  that  may  have 
stopped  too  long,  in  and  about,  the  joints. 

Osteopathy. 

True  osteopathy  is  a  specialized  massage  combined 
with  Swedish  movements.  It  has  been  claimed  by 
the  first  who  practiced  it  that  all  disease  w-as  due 
either  to  misplacements  or  superfluous  growths  in  and 
about  the  spinal  joints  and  along  the  nerve  tracks.  But 
this  theory  is  repudiated  by  the  latest  school  of  this 
specialty,  and  many  sanitarium  practices  are  being 
woven  into  the  system.  It  is  applied  chiefly  to  joints 
and  spine  and  in  connection  with  other  rational  meth- 
ods becoiues  exceedingly  effective. 

Tensing  Exercises. 

As  a  means  of  quickly  clearing  out  from  the  muscles 
the  worn  out  material,  there  is  no  system  of  active 
exercise  equal  to  this.  Jt  consists  in  setting  the  two 
classes  of  muscles,  the  extensors  and  flexors,  so  that 
the  muscles  e(|ually  oppose  each  other.  Now  move  the 
part  slowly,  and  deliberately,  but  firmly  and  steadily 
through  a  full  course  of  common  calisthenic  or  gym- 
nastic exercises.  Take  the  arms  first,  then  each  limb, 
then  the  neck  and  body ;  in  ten  minutes  mt^rc  worn 
out  material  mav  be  loosened  and  set  moving"  than  in 


182  ESSENTIALS    TO    LIFE     AND    HEALTH 

an  hour  of  ordinary  exercise.  Yawning,  gaping  and 
stretching  are  natural  expressions  of  this  exercise. 
They  are  nature's  efforts  to  clear  the  circulation. 

Vermifuges. 

These  are  worm  destroyers.  Every  druggist  is  so 
well  acquainted  with  this  class  of  remedies  that  wc  do 
not  need  to  specify.  They  are  given  to  kill  the  para- 
sites. They  belong  under  the  head  of  Rest  producers, 
as  they  rid  the  body  of  its  foes  and  give  a  chance  for 
peace  to  reign. 

Germicides. 

As  this  book  deals  almost  entirely  with  the  primary 
natural  agencies  it  will  not  be  wise  here  to  launch  out 
into  an  exhaustive  study  of  this  great  subject.  Only 
a  few  first  principles  will  be  considered.  Animal  foods 
greatly  favor  the  growth  of  germs  in  the  alimentary 
canal.  Fruits  of  all  kinds  hinder  their  growth.  Work- 
ing on  this  principle  the  best  surgeons  feed  their  ]ia- 
ticnts,  if  possible,  for  a  few  days  previous  to  severe 
operations  on  a  diet  of  fruits  and  sterilized  grains. 
This  clears  the  bowels  of  the  Bacillus  Coli  or  renders 
this  germ  inert.  This  nearly  always  prevents  opera- 
tions being  followed  by  peritonitis,  which  used  to  be 
the  dread  of  the  surgeon.  This  emphasizes  the  value 
of  fruit  diet  in  everyday  life. 

The  idea  prevails  in  some  sections  that  fruit  is  the 
cause  of  bowel  trouble.  While  some  persons  cannot 
eat  fruit  at  all,  we  want  to  say  that  good  ripe  fruit 
does  not  cause  disease  of  the  bowels.  Green  fruits 
may.  Where  disturbances  seem  to  be  due  to  eating 
ripe  fruit,  observation  will  most  likely  disclose  the  fact 


PHYSICAL  REMEDIES  FOR  DISEASES  183 

that  the  person  was  using  pork  or  fat  meats  of  some 
kind,  or  indulging  in  pastry  shortened  with  lard,  or 
was  eating  lajge  quantities  of  butter.  Animal  fats, 
especially  lard,  will  work  havoc  in  hot  weather,  with 
most  any  stomach  when  mixed  in  witli  fruits.  Pork 
and  lard  eaten  with  other  foods  is  one  of  the  great 
causes  of  bilious  attacks. 

Nearly  all  the  aromatic  herbs  and  plants  and  the  es- 
sential oils  made  from  them  have  the  powder  to  destroy 
germs.  Hence,  those  which  are  not  harmful  may  and 
should  be  used  in  stomach  and  bowel  troubles,  and 
as  inhalations  for  diseases  of  the  nose,  throat  and 
lungs.  The  use  of  peppermint  and  spearmint  tea  and 
cinnamon  water,  one  part  cinnamon  essence  to  ten 
parts  water,  are  always  in  order  for  common  bowel 
difificulties  except  constipation.  Most  of  the  resinous 
gums  are  also  germicides.  Camphor  gum  taken  in 
pellets  the  size  of  a  wheat  grain  every  two  hours  for 
five  or  six  times.,  then  three  or  four  times  a  day.  is 
one  of  the  best  remedies  for  severe  bowel  troubles 
caused  by  climatic  changes. 

The  aroma  of  the  evergreen  forests  in  the  mountain 
altitudes  no  doubt  exercises  a  germicidal  effect  and 
thus  helps  to  bring  healing  to  bronchial  and  lung 
troubles. 

It  is  the  opinion  of  the  writer  that  nearly  all  positive 
good  which  medicines  seem  to  do  is  due  to  their  power 
to  destroy  germs.  Many  minerals  are  germicides,  but 
few  of  them  may  be  safely  used  in  the  stomach.  Salt 
and  soda  are  germicides.  Salt  may  be  used  in  the 
food  in  very  small  quantities;  but  in  large  quantities 
it  greatly  hinders  digestion,  and  becomes  one  cause  of 
gout,  a  disease  which  sedentary  peoj^le  arc  not  very 


184  ESSENTIALS    TO    LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

proud  of.  Soda  may  sweeten  a  sour  stomach  but  it 
does  not  prevent  the  return  of  the  trouble  and  may 
result  in  damage  to  the  body.  Being,  like  salt,  only 
another  form  of  sodium,  it  helps  to  cause  gout.  The 
human  body  cannot  take  minerals  in  any  quantity  and 
convert  them  into  tissue  except  as  they  have  been 
taken  up  by  plant  life  and  changed  into  vegetable  cell 
structure. 

Applications  of  cold  hinder  germ  growths  and 
though  they  do  not  destroy  the  germs,  they  become 
a  most  efficient  remedy  in  fevers  by  preventing  the 
fever  producing  germs  from  multiplying.  This  is  the 
great  santiarium  method  for  treating  typhoid  fever  and 
pneumonia.  It  has  been  said  of  late  that  long  con- 
tinued freezing  will  destroy  germs.  Perhaps  those 
which  were  frozen  up  in  the  Arctic  regions  at  the  time 
of  the  flood  are  all  inert  by  this  time  and  perhaps  a  less 
length  of  time  might  suffice  to  freeze  them  dead,  but 
you  beware  of  the  ice  gathered  from  the  old  mill  pond 
or  the  dirty  river,  and  you  will  be  safe. 

In  the  case  of  cjuinsy  and  other  glandular  swellings 
caused  by  germs,  heat  and  cold,  applied  alternately 
will  stimulate  glandular  activity  and  throw  out  the 
germs.  Success  depends  on  an  early  commencement. 
It  is  not  wise  to  go  further  into  this  s,ubjcct  here.  Prog- 
ress is  being  made  and  we  will  probably  know  much 
more  of  germicides  a  few  years  hence  than  we  now 
know. 

Let  us  not  forget  the  pOAver  of  sunlight  as  a  germi- 
cide and  may  we  learn  how  to  use  it.  It  is  inexpen- 
sive yet,  and  w^e  may  safely  live  in  hope  that  no  one 
will  ever  succeed  in  getting  a  monopoly  on  it. 


PHYSICAL  REMEDIES  FOR  DISEASES  185 

Electricity. 

This  excellent  healing  agent,  as  we  have  shown  in 
other  places,  is  a  direct  product  of  sun  energy.  The 
various  forms,  as  dynamic,  static,  faradic,  sinu- 
soidal and  galvanic,  vary  chiefly  in  the  quality  ami 
rate  of  vibration  and  valume  of  current.  The  static  and 
dynamic  currents  are  identical  with  the  natural  dis- 
play which  we  call  "lightning."  The  motion  and  fric- 
tion which  produce  these  powerful  electric  currents  by 
some  mysterious  process  becomes  condensed  and 
liquefied  so  that  it  can  be  handled  and  directed  and 
changed  back  into  motion,  heat,  or  light,  as  may  be 
desired. 

"While  the  powerful  current  may  cause  death  in- 
stantly, the  milder  currents  may  be  so  used  as  to  be 
a  great  aid  in  the  restoration  of  the  sick.  The  philoso- 
phy of  cure  lies  in  the  exercise  given  the  part  to  which 
it  is  applied,  through  the  almost  infinitely  fine  vibra- 
tions imparted  to  the  cell  structure  of  the  body,  by 
which  waste  cells  are  liberated  and  new  material  al- 
lowed to  come  in  and  take  their  place. 

Vaccination. 

The  smallpox  virus  modified  by  passing  it  through 
an  animal,  the  cow,  is  inoculated  into  the  blood.  In 
this  case  we  say  the  body  begins  to  fight  the 
poison  by  developing  anti-toxin — anti-poison — and 
so  establishes  an  indefinite  vital  resistance  to  the 
small  pox  virus.  This,  no  doubt,  if  properly  managed, 
is  a  very  wise  procedure.  But  the  public  have  had 
reason  to  denounce  vaccination  in  some  cases  because 
not  niany  years  ago  there  was  little  or  no  care  as  tc 
the  source  from  whence  the  \  irus  was  obtained.  There 

18 


186         ESSENTIALS    TO    LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

is  no  doubt  but  foul  diseases  have  been  inoculated 
into  the  innocent.  The  safeguards  about  the  produc- 
tion of  the  virus  at  the  present  time  ought  to  insure 
safety  if  those  who  insert  it  keep  their  tools  and  hands 
clean.  But  now  that  tuberculosis  is  becoming  so  uni- 
versally prevalent  among  cattle  it  will  require  more- 
wisdom  and  care  than  ever  before  to  secure  virus  that 
is  free  from  tuberculosis  infection.  After  all,  we  can- 
not help  sympathizing  with  those  who  have  stren- 
uously opposed  vaccination. 

Developing  Vital  Resistance. 

As  we  have  said  in  another  place  there  is  death  in 
every  element  of  our  natural  environment.  Too  much 
sunlight  brings  sunstroke.  Germs  in  air  and  water 
and  food  are  often  death  dealing.  Too  much  protec- 
tion weakens  the  body.  Overwork  destroys,  and  ab- 
solute inertia,  the  abuse  of  rest,  is  sure  to  result  in 
death.  So  the  wise  man  who  would  live  must  learn 
to  use  these  elements  so  as  to  get  the  most  vital  energy 
out  of  them  and  sustain  at  the  same  time  the  least 
possible  amount  of  wear  and  tear.  To  thus  develoj) 
and  keep  the  vital  energies,  the  first  and  most  im- 
portant thing  is  a  calm,  hopeful,  confident  frame  of 
mind.  A  man  resigned  and  happy  in  his  station  in 
life  will  have  time  to  breathe.  There  will  be  no 
stress  of  soul  to  tax  the  mind  and  draw  away  and 
use  up  the  vital  nerve  power  that  ought  to  be  used 
in  keeping  the  body  in  repair.  This  man  who  breathes 
naturally  and  easily  will  have  a  good  appetite  and  will 
need  no  dainties  and  delicacies  to  tempt  his  taste.  The 
danger  will  be  in  taking  more  than  the  body  needs. 
TW\9.  must  be  avoided,  else  there  will  be  power  wasted 


PHYSICAL  REMEDIES  P^OK  DISEASES  187 

in  throwing  out  the  unnecessary  surpUis.  Good  vigor- 
ous exercise  will  store  up  force  in  nerve,  muscle,  and 
bone  tissue.  The  mental  elYort  to  care  for  and  direct 
properly  the  physical  energies  will  help  to  keep  the 
brain  in  good  condition.  A  moderate  application  of 
cool  bathing  will  keep  the  skin  healthy.  A  natural 
supply  of  food  to  keep  the  body  well  nourished  and  the 
bowels  open,  enough  pure  water  to  keep  every  part 
well  moistened,  these  provisions  will  tend  all  the  time 
to  a  better  state  of  health.  And  we  must  not  forget  l<) 
keep  the  body  comfortable,  warm  and  happy.  Vital 
resistance  to  germ  diseases  and  climatic  changes  will 
thus  be  established  and  such  a  person  will  not  likely 
be  affected  by  germs  of  tuberculosis,  typhoid  fever  or 
even  cholera.  Such  a  body  has  a  fighting  power  which 
the  weak  body  does  not  possess.  Anything  which 
makes  the  body  stronger,  prepares  it  to  oppose  the 
inroads  of  any  and  all  kinds  of  poison.  It  is  violations 
of  natural  law  which  make  disease  contagious.  Re- 
spect for  the  same  law  will  make  health  c()ntagit)us. 
barring  hereditary  tendencies.  If  one  wants  to  bo 
well  he  must  pay  the  price,  patient  obedience.  The 
cure  is  not  in  a  bottle,  but  in  the  vital  organism  and 
its  environment.  The  germicide  may  destroy  germs 
out  of  the  body,  but  the  power  to  overcome  the  effects 
of  the  germ  poison  resides  in  the  body.  The  work 
of  the  great  Hygieo-therapeutic  Sanitariums  that  are 
springing  up  all  over  the  world  is  entircl\  comprised 
in  this  work  of  developing  vital  resistance  to  disease 
and  in  surgery.  Hut  the  people  may.  if  the}'  will,  do 
much  for  themselves  if  they  do  not  get  in  so  great  a 
hurry  that  they  cannot  await  the  pace  of  natural  pro- 
cesses. 


188  ESSENTIALS    TO    LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

Cleanliness  an  Aid  to  Cure. 

It  would  seem  almost  unnecessary  to  speak  on  this 
subject.  But  to  be  safe  we  must  say  that  the  under- 
clothing" should  be  changed  often ;  always  before  ac- 
cumulations of  waste  matter  have  made  it  possible 
for  the  poisons  to  be  absorbed  again  into  the  body. 
The  daily  sponge  bath  makes  it  possible  to  wear  the 
clothing  .much  longer  than  it  would  otherwise  be  safe, 
and  a  little  good  soap  is  not  to  be  forgotten  as  a  part 
of  this  equipment.  Occupation,  climate  and  charac- 
ter of  employment  have  much  to  do  with  frequency 
of  changes. 

Rooms  where  the  sick  are  confined  must  be  kept 
sweet  and  clean  in  every  part  from  floor  to  ceiling,  as 
well  as  curtains  and  bedding.  The  sense  of  smell 
should  never  detect  danger.  We  have  seen  cobwebs 
in  a  sanitarium,  and  in  other  places  have  had  occasion 
to  remark  that  "This  room  smells  like  a  hospital." 
These  are  bad  things  for  the  ihvalids.  Bedding  hung 
out  daily  in  the  sun  for  a  few  hours  is  sweetened  and 
freshened  almost  as  much  as  if  it  went  thru  the  laun- 
dry. This  daily  airing  makes  it  usable  for  a  longer 
time.  Let  the  housewives  catch  on  to  this  point. 
Then  they  will  sense  anew  the  value  of  sunshine  as  a 
germ  destroyer  and   general  purifier. 

Surgery. 

Surgery  and  its  accompanying  science  of  Asep- 
sis and  Antisepsis,  is  the  most  perfect  of  any  branch 
of  the  work  done  by  the  medical  profession.  It  is  a 
supreme  application  of  the  Law  of  Physical  Rest.  It 
has  made  very  rapid  strides  in  the  last  twenty-five 
vears   and   has   bcconie   almost  a   fad   among   doctors. 


PHYSICAL  REMEDIES  FOR  DISEASES  189 

Some  surgeons  have  taken  delight  in  every  operation 
they  could  get  in  removal  of  the  ovaries.  Others  can- 
not rest  till  they  have  got  the  other  fellow's  appendix, 
no  matter  whether  anything  ails  it  or  not.  Many 
times  a  crushed  or  injured  hand  has  been  amputated 
in  part  or  the  whole,  chiefly  thru  desire  to  "operate" 
when  a  little  surgery  and  the  application  of  germi- 
cides and  hot  water  and  the  heating  compress  would 
have  restored  the  hand  or  foot  to  a  fairly  useful  con- 
dition. More  than  half  the  cutting  that  has  been  done 
in  abdominal  surgery  has  not  only  been  useless,  but 
an  injury  to  the  patients.  This  state  of  affairs  has 
been  made  possible  by  the  people  putting  the  medical 
men  where  they  can  bury  their  mistakes,  and  by  the 
medical  men  exalting  "cutting"  above  other  curative 
agents.  The  same  recklessness  in  regard  to  human 
life  and  prosperity  prevails  among  a  large  portion  of 
medical  men  as  prevails  among  stock  speculators  and 
gamblers,  who  are  willing  to  take  great  risks  even 
where  they  can  see  nothing  clear  before  them.  But 
there  are  others  among  them  who  see  and  deplore  this 
state  of  affairs.  The  writer  has  not  conjured  these 
statements.  He  has  read  and  heard  them  from  sound 
clear-headed  physicians,  who  are  unable  to  stem  the 
current  that  has  set  so  strongly  in  favor  of  cutting 
first  and  considering  afterward.  We  desire  to  speak 
soberly  and  say  just  enough  to  turn  the  reader  towaril 
the  conservative  medical  men  who  prefer  to  exhaust 
other  means  of  cure  before  cutting  and  to  use  it  al- 
ways as  a  last  resort.  Thousands  of  women  have 
been  unsexed  just  to  gratif\-  a  desire  to  "operate." 
The  one  thing  that  makes  surgery  popular  is  that 
"there  is  money  in  it." 


190         ESSENTIALS    TO    LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

If  medical  men  would  train  womankind  into  cor- 
rect habits  of  dress  and  breathing,  and  proper  water- 
drinking,  one  fruitful  source  of  their  income  would  be 
largely  abbreviated.  By  far  the  larger  amount  of 
surgery  is  performed  for  female  troubles.  There  is 
no  good  reason  why  they  should  require  more  surgery 
than  men.  Medical  men  and  the  clergy  will  no  doubt 
have  to  answer  for  their  failure  even  to  make  an  efit'ort 
to  turn  the  more  easily  persuaded  part  of  the  race 
back  from  the  ways  of  ruin  and  death.  The  men  in 
these  professions  who  make  light  of  or  treat  with 
indifference  the  subject  of  Hygiene  are  not  worthy  of 
human  confidence.  There  are  plenty  of  them  who 
are  doing  this  unless  they  have  some  patented  hygienic 
appliance  that  they  are  financially  or  otherwise  inter- 
ested in.  The  medical  profession  will  continue  to 
reform  itself  just  as  fast  as  the  public  become  intelli- 
gent enough  to  demand  the  reform.  The  writer  has 
watched  the  changes  that  have  taken  place  in  the  last 
fifty  years  with  intense  interest.  He  has  seen  several 
physicians  converted  to  the  Hygieo-Therapeutic 
methods  who  got  their  start  in  reform  thru  seeing  the 
workings  of  water  cure  in  the  hands  of  some  humble 
country  housewife.  These  are  days  of  reform  and 
disaster  betides  the  men  who  dare  to  stand  in  its  way. 
Let  us  honor  surgery  as  a  real  science,  but  let  us  dep- 
recate its  use  where  hygienic  measures  can  possibly 
work  out  better  results.  And  let  us  honor  and  appre- 
ciate the  men  who  exalt  primary  preventive  agencies 
above  hasty  surgical  experimentation. 

Above  all,  let  the  people  find  out  how  to  live  so  that 
they  will  not  be  likely  to  need  serious  surgical  atten- 
tion.    To    this    end    the    most    important    matter   is    a 


PHYSICAL  REMEDIES  FOR  DISEASES  191 

reform  at  the  waist  line  in  the  dress  of  woman-kind. 
Let  mothers  stop  and  reflect  until  they  sense  the  se- 
riousness of  the  situation.  There  is  a  mighty  incent- 
ive to  this  kind  of  reform,  even  if  only  a  few  humble 
quiet  people  are  now  demanding  it. 

Physicians  and  the  clergy  must  in  some  way  be 
made  to  feel  responsible  for  their  influence  in  this 
matter.  A  knowledge  of  how  to  live  is  of  more  im- 
portance to  the  patient  than  the  curiosity  of  experi- 
mentation is  to  the  doctor,  and  life  is  worth  more  to 
the  patient  and  her  dependents  than  the  fee  is  to  the 
doctor. 

Words  of  Emphasis. 

In  this  chapter  we  have  just  briefly  outlined  a  few 
of  the  very  important  things  on  the  doing  of  which 
life  and  health  depend.  We  do  not  feel  free  to  close 
it  without  laying  special  emphasis  on  the  use  of  some 
of  these  measures.  The  questions  of  pure  proper 
food  properly  eaten ;  pure  air  and  the  full  and  free 
use  of  it;  and  pure  water  in  abundance,  are  of  the  very 
first  importance.  But  others  have  said  so  much  about 
foods  that  we  feel  like  emphasizing  the  neglected 
things.  So  we  say,  practice  the  breathing  exercises 
faithfully  and  drink  water  for  every  ailment  you  may 
have,  unless  the  stomach  is  prolapsed  or  the  heart 
very  weak;  and  keep  a  restful  calm  in  your 
soul.  Don't  try  to  have  your  own  way.  Lei 
mental  peace  reign.  Dismiss  everything  that  dis- 
turbs, or  forget  the  disturbances.  God's  ways 
are  best.  The  full  breathing  exercises  will  make 
vour  lungs  and  digestive  organs  strong;  and  the  water 
will  wash  out  many  an  ache  and  i)ain  and  with  the  air 


192         ESSENTIALS    TO    LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

clear  out  the  rubbish  from  the  brain  cells  and  enable 
you    to   think   as   you    have   not   done   before.      Total 
abstinence  from  food  for  the  over-fed  and  over-nour- 
ished is  a  wonderful  mind  and  soul  invigorator.     Pure 
water  will  clear  out  the  waste  mineral  salts  from  the 
body   and   supple   the   arteries   and   veins   and   joints 
quicker  than  you  dare  think,  and  there  is  nothing  on 
earth   that   will   take   its   place.     When   you   are  just 
wretched  for  want  of  air,  and  water,  and  rest,  remem- 
ber there  are  no  substitutes.     Wake  up,  wake  up,  my 
fellow-man.    Take  as  good  care  of  your  life  and  health 
as  you  demand  to  be  given  to  your  automobile,  or  as 
the  good  engineer  gives  to  his  locomotive,  or  as  you 
take  of  your  watch.     Keep  your  body  clean  inside  and 
out.     No   matter   what   ails   you,   or   if  you   are   well. 
breathe,  drink,  exercise  and  cast  out  the  worry;    Then 
you  will  not  have  to  endure  the  infliction  of  many  of 
the  other  remedies.     The  pains  that  prod  you  are  a 
danger  signal.     Slow  up.     Find  out  what  the  matter 
is.      Guard   the   body   from    excesses.      Champagne    is 
quite   sure   to   bring   on   the    real   pain.     Every   right 
physical  action  has  its  rewards,  and  every  e\il  physical 
way  has  its  punishment  right  here  and  now.     If  you 
are  in  such  a  hurry  to  get  rich  that  you  can't  take 
time  to  live,  God  pity  you ;  what  will  you  do  with  it  all 
after  you  are  dead?    There  is  such  a  thing  as  idolatry, 
yes,  heathenism,  right  in  .\merica.     Life  here  and  now 
and    Life   hereafter   are   the   things   that   our    Creator 
makes  His  care.     Let  us  learn  to  be  in  harmony  with 
Him  and  pay  more  attention  to  the  things  with  which 
He  has  environed  us,  on  which  we  are  dependent. 


CHAPTER  IX, 
Treatment  of  Diseases, 

If,  as  we  have  abundantly  shown,  and  as  would 
seem  ahnost  self-evident  to  all,  life  and  health  depend 
on  sunlight,  air,  water,  food,  clothing,  exercise  and 
rest,  then  if  these  things  are  used  correctly,  where  the 
failure  to  use  them  properly  has  brought  disease,  it 
follows  that  the  vital  energy  in  the  body,  if  not  too 
greatly  weakened  by  disease,  may  quite  surely  rally 
and  appropriate  the  results  of  their  use,  and  bring 
healing  to  the  diseased  parts. 

Two  of  the  most  important  things  to  the  body,  are 
nutrition, — the  proper  preparation  of  good  blood  out 
of  food,  air  and  water,  and  the  distribution  of  the  nu- 
trition contained  in  the  blood,  to  every  organ,  espe- 
cially those  that  are  weak  and  diseased.  So  to  ani- 
plify  on  this  statement,  we  must  encourage  the  stom- 
ach, and  bowels,  liver  and  other  digestive  organs,  and 
the  lungs,  into  as  full  a  state  of  activity  as  possible, 
by  pure  foods  and  'drinks,  proper  exercises,  applica- 
tion of  electricity,  massage,  sunlight,  rest,  the  use  of 
heat  and  cold,  by  means  of  water  and  in  other  ways, 
and  then  we  can  with  these  and  other  agencies  help 
the  body  to  distribute  its  nourishment  to  the  parts 
where   it   is   most  needed. 

We  cannot  in  this  little  book  take  up  and  consider 
the  treatment  of  every  phase  of  human  ailment.     \\  o 


194  ESSENTIAIvS    TO    LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

are  trying  to  give  enough  of  typical  treatment,  both 
in  general  and  in  particular,  so  that  the  intelligent 
reader  may  make  no  serious  mistakes  in  applying  the 
foregoing  remedies  to  the  following  and  other  similar 
cases  of  difficulty.  Study  the  principle  involved  every 
time.  The  true  method  will  dawn  on  you  more  and 
more.  Never  get  frightened,  but  do  all  you  can  to 
nip  trouble  in  the  bud.  We  are  also  desirous  that  you 
should  know  that  there  are  places  where  these  prin- 
ciples are  being  used  successfully. 

Perhaps  we  ought  to  apologize  for  the  order  in 
which  the  diseases  are  arranged  in  this  chapter,  but 
the  fact  is  we  did  not  know  in  just  what  order  they 
might  present  themselves  in  the  experience  of  the 
reader.  We  have,  however,  managed  to  keep  the  dis- 
eases of  nutrition  foremost  in  the  list,  and  we  think 
we  have  done  fairly  well  in  doing  this.  It  matters 
very  little  in  what  order  we  consider  the  various  sick- 
nesses of  humanity,  provided  we  learn  their  causes 
and  the  best  remedies.  We  shall  surely  have  to  meet 
them  in  ourselves  as  they  come,  unless  we  conquer  the 
principles  of  Hygiene ;  and  we  shall  always  find  plenty 
of  suffering  ones  who  are  slothful  about  learning  the 
science  of  prevention,  who  will  be  overtaken  by  suffer- 
ing, just  in  the  order  they  trample  the  Natural  Laws 
under  their  feet. 

Dyspepsia. 

Begin  treatment  by  applying  the  Law  of  Rest. 
Never  overwork  the  body.  Never  eat  when  ex- 
hausted. Leave  out  of  your  diet  everything  but 
one  or  two  simple  foods,  that  you  know  by  expe- 
rience set  well,  or  set  the  best  on  the  stomach.     This 


TREATMENT  OF  DISEASES  195 

will  begin  to  give  the  stomach  rest.  Well-cooked 
browned  rice  with  a  little  cream,  and  twice  baked 
bread  sliced  thin  and  slightly  browned  in  the  oven  and 
eaten  dry,  will  make  an  excellent  diet  for  several  days. 
(See  "Sterilizing  Bread,"  Chapter  X.)  Add  a  little  soft 
boiled  egg  for  some  of  the  meals.  Chew,  chew,  chew, 
don't  rinse  your  food  down.  Drink  nothing  at  your 
meals  and  for  two  or  three  hours  after.  See  that 
every  mouthful  of  food  is  thoroughly  mixed  with 
saliva.  Oftentimes  the  driest  food  chewed  the  longest 
is  the  only  remedy  for  obstinate  cases.  The  whole 
wheat  or  corn  flake  or  oat  flake  browned  and  eaten 
dry  are  excellent.  Pufifed  rice  and  wheat  are  all  right. 
Unleavened  bread  made  of  cornmeal,  w-heatmeal  or 
oatmeal  is  the  best  food  to  experiment  with.  (See 
Crinklets.)  Wheat,  or  rye  slightly  browned  and 
cracked  in  a  mill  and  cooked  for  three  or  four  hour.'- 
are  first-class  foods.  Remember  to  eat  one  or  two 
things  and  chew  them  till  the  saliva  makes  them  so 
liquid  that  you  can't  help  but  swallow.  This  is  called 
Fletcherizing.  By  haste  the  epicure  loses  the  ver} 
thing  which  he  is  most  anxious  to  secure.  The  flavor 
of  the  food  is  all  extracted  only  by  deliberation  in 
eating.  The  fellow  who  said  he  took  after  both  his 
father  and  mother  in  his  table  habits,  was  a  good 
sample  of  the  average  American.  W  hen  asked  to 
explain,  he  said:  "Father  ate  very  fast  and  mother 
ate  a  long  time."  Sometimes  it  is  best  if  the  stomach 
is  badly  tired  out  to  give  it  a  few  days  of  absolute 
rest,  using,  nothing  but  water.  Then  begin  on  a  ver\' 
small  quantity  of  something  that  smells  good  when  it 
is  cooking,  provided  it  is  within  the  class  of  foods 
mentioned,  and  gradually  grow  into  eating,  l)ut  never, 


196         ESSENTIALS    TO    LIFE    AKD    HEALTH 

again  we  say,  rinse  the  food  down  with  any  kind  lU" 
drink.  Appetite  is  not  to  be  fully  trusted.  Patience 
and  perseverance  for  weeks  will  be  necessary. 

Now  put  with  this  diet  the  simple  system  of  Vibra- 
tory Breathing.  This  is  just  as  important  as  the  diet 
— if  not  more  so.  Practice  a  short  time  before  meals 
and  soon  after,  and  use  with  it  Forced  Exhalation 
and  Inhalation  three  or  four  times  during  the  day,  say 
five  minutes  at  a  time.  Take  some  lessons  in  lauiih- 
ing  for  a  change.  Caution,  don't  overdo,  but  be  per- 
sistent in  moderate  eflforts  and  grow  into  breathing. 

Another  point  must  not  be  overlooked.  Enough 
water  must  be  taken  to  keep  the  blood  up  to  a  full 
state  of  tluidity.  This  means  about  eight  to  ten 
glasses  per  day,  half  a  glass  at  a  time;  some  will 
l)ear  a  glass.  Hot  water  half  an  hour  before 
meals  and  cold  water  on  retiring  at  night. 
But  drink  nothing  for  three  hours  after  each 
meal.  Plenty  of  water  will  sustain  life  a  long 
time.  Distilled  or  pure  soft  water  only  should  be 
used ;  but  hard  water  is  better  than  none,  only  boil 
and  let  it  settle.  If  the  digestion  is  slow  heat  should 
be  applied  over  the  stomach  for  three-fourths  of  an 
hour  after  each  meal.  If  the  Doctor  says  you  have 
"hyperchloridia" — too  much  hydrochloric  acid — then 
wear  a  large  cold  water  rubber  bottle  from  the  pit  of 
the  stomach  toward  the  left  side  just  at  the  edge  of 
the  short  ril)s,  for  three-fourths  of  an  hour  after  each 
meal.     Put  it  next  to  the  skin. 

You  may  have  a  case  of  trouble  where  milk  agrees 
best.  Then  sterilize  it  and  take  it  thru  a  very  fine 
tube,  one  that  will  require  sufficient  effort  to  draw  on 
the  salivary  glands  and  thorougiily  insalivate  the  milk. 


TREATMENT  OF  DISEASES  197 

While  we  are  passing  see  that  the  baby's  nursing 
bottle  does  not  allow  the  milk  to  flow  very  freely. 
Many  babies  suflFer  with  indigestion  because  the  milk 
is  taken  so  fast  that  the  digestive  fluids  are  not  thor- 
oughly mixed  with  it.  Milk  taken  by  a  calf  in  the 
strictly  natural  way  curds  in  strings  in  the  stomach, 
while  that  which  is  drank  curds  in  a  solid  mass.  The 
calf  that  nurses  the  cow  looks  sleek  and  if  full  of 
antics.  The  hair  on  the  calf  that  drinks  the  same 
warm  fresh  milk  turns  every  which  way,  and  he  does 
not  appear  near  so  happy  as  the  other  one.  A  gentle- 
man who  was  the  owner  of  more  than  four  hundred 
milch  cows,  narrated  the  above  facts  as  matters  of  hi.'^ 
personal  observation  in  the  rearing  and  killing  of 
calves,  covering  a  period  of  twenty-five  years.  This 
is  purely  the  difference  between  thorough  mingling 
of  the  milk  with  the  digestive  fluids  and  not  having 
them   thoroughly   commingled   with  it. 

Last,  but  just  as  important  as  all  that  has  gone 
before,  quit  all  fretting  and  worrying.  Save  your 
nervous  energies  to  get  well.  Stop  kicking  and 
squirming  and  hunting  up  new  symptoms,  and  count- 
ing over  your  old  ones.  Choose  cheerful  society  and 
laugh  on  every  possible  occasion.  Make  fun  of  your 
victuals  if  you  can't  get  anything  else  to  laugh  about. 
Invite  some  humorous  friend  to  come  and  see  you. 
This  is  the  time  when  "A  merry  heart  doeth  good  like 
a  medicine."  Don't  trouble  yourself  with  new  taxing- 
business  plans.  Cheerful  light  einployment  will  be 
good  for  you.  Attend  faithfully  to  the  business  of 
getting  well  and  do  not  be  anxious  to  get  back  to  the 
old  ways  of  living.  Once  you  are  well,  you  will  be  a 
wise   man   if  you   lose   friendship   for  those   enslaving 


198  ESSENTIALS    TO    LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

appetites  that  pulled  yon  down.  There  is  no  place  so 
good  as  a  good  Sanitarium  to  get  well  of  dyspepsia. 
"It  takes  a  steady  hand  to  lead  the  elephant  by  the 
ear." 

Constipation. 

This  is  a  most  common  disease  of  nutrition.  A 
druggist  once  said  to  me:  "Three-fourths  of  all  the 
medicines  I  sell  are  cathartics."  If  this  trouble  ac- 
companies 3-our  dyspepsia,  add  to  what  we  have  said, 
if  the  stomach  will  take  it,  one  meal  of  fruit  daily  with 
raw  or  cooked  wheat  flakes  or  oat  meal.  Drink  tlic 
extra  amount  of  water.  Make  up  for  the  past  if  you 
can.  As  soon  as  your  stomach  will  begin  to  bear  it 
drink  a  glass  of  cold  water  on  rising.  If  the  stomach 
will  not  take  fruit,  or  if  it  will,  use  a  half  a  cup  of 
wheat  bran,  pour  boiling  water  over  it  at  noon,  at 
night  eat  it  with  cream  and  a  little  salt,  or  eat  it  next 
morning  if  you  prefer.-  Work  the  bowels  with  your 
own  hands,  or  take  a  course  in  Massage  and  physical 
training  from  some  operator,  and  use  Diaphragm 
Gymnastics  faithfully.  You  may  tone  up  the  lower 
bowel  with  eight  or  ten  cool  enemas  taken  every  other 
day  at  a  regular  time,  early  morning  is  best,  beginning 
at  90  degrees  and  work  down  two  degrees  colder  each 
time.  A  pint  and  a  half  of  water  is  enough.  If  you 
are  weak  and  bloodless  begin  at  96  degrees  and  work 
down.  Don't  hurry  the  enema  in  taking,  and  don't 
hold  it  more  than  ten  minutes.  If  it  all  absorbs  take 
another  one,  and  drink  more  at  once.  It  stands  to 
reason  that  the  body  cannot  dry  up  if  it  is  kept  well 
irrigated.  Plenty  of  cream,  or  nuts  well  chewed,  or 
oli\c  or  cottonseed  oil,  or  green   foods  as  celery,  let- 


TREATMENT  OF  DISEASES  199 

tuce,  raw  cabbage,  and  cooked  greens  of  various  kinds 
are  the  best  for  this  trouble  if  the  stomach  will  bear 
them.  There  are  very  few  cases  that  cannot  take  the 
bran  as  before  suggested.  The  sum  of  suggestion  for 
constipation  is,  plenty  of  moistvire  in  the  body,  bulk 
as  well  as  nutrition  in  food,  and  abdominal  exercise 
by  breathing  and  manipulation.  If  the  first  two  weeks 
does  not  bring  relief  repeat  the  course  of  cool  enemas 
and  stick  to  the  other  suggestion  faithfully.  There  is 
no  use  getting  tied  up  to  enemas  or  physic.  They 
never  effect  a  cure.  They  may  be  used  on  rare  occa- 
sions under  forced  circumstances,  but  they  are  a  dam- 
age if  they  become  a  habit.  The  enema  is  safer  and 
quicker  and  does  less  harm  than  physic,  but  should  be 
used  only  when  compulsion  demands  it.  One  wdio  is 
subject  to  spells  of  constipation  when  travelling  should 
carry  with  them  some  Cascara  Sagrada  Pellets.  The}- 
are  the  least  harmful,  and  very  convenient. 

Piles. 

Piles  are  little  tumors  in  and  around  the  end  of  the 
bowel.  They  are  generally  caused  by  constipation, 
irritating  foods  and  hard  heavy  labor.  They,  will  yield 
at  once  to  rest,  bland  foods  such  as  will  relieve  con- 
stipation, and  applications  of  hot  water.  This  last  is 
best  accomplished  with  a  Rectal  Irrigator,  a  sipli'Mi 
syringe  hose  and  a  four  or  five-gallon  pail  set  up  or 
hung  up  three  or  four  feet  above  the  closet  seat.  The 
Irrigator  permits  a  stream  to  enter  the  bowel  about 
three  to  five  inches  and  run  out  at  once,  without  any 
water  being  retained  by  the  bowel.  The  application 
should  be  continued  for  thirty  minutes,  having  the 
water  at  112^   to  116°  or  even  118  \     Repeat  three  to 


200  ESSENTIALS    TO    LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

six  nights  in  succession.  There  is  no  surer  cure  for 
any  aihnent  than  this  is  for  piles  taken  early.  In 
chronic  cases  it  seldom  fails  to  give  such  relief  that 
an  operation  becomes  unnecessary.  Always  try  this 
faithfully  before  submitting  to  any  operation,  no  mat- 
ter how  wise  in  your  opinion,  the  man  who  advises  it. 
It  will  make  the  operation  less  dangerous  to  say  the 
least. 

Acute  Catarrh  of  the  Bowels. 

This  disease  interferes  seriously  with  nutrition.  Rest 
and  stop  eating  for  a  day  or  two.  Drink  two  to  six 
cups  of  hot  peppermint  or  spearmint  tea.  Hot  cinna- 
mon water,  one  part  essence  to  ten  of  water,  in  small 
quantities  is  an  important  remedy.  Get  this  fluid 
down  as  quickly  as  possible.  Take  a  full  hot  enema, 
then  apply  heat  all  over  the  abdomen  by  means  of 
rubber  hot  water  bottles,  hot  griddles  or  any  conven- 
ient means.  Hot  fomentations  over  the  entire  abdo- 
men are  about  the  best  thing.  If  long  continued  heat 
through  the  night  is  wanted  the  hot  water  rubber  bot- 
tles are  the  best.  An  excellent  antiseptic  is  camphor 
gum  the  size  of  a  wheat  grain,  taken  every  hour  or  two 
in  severe  cases,  for  the  first  few  hours ;  after  that  once 
in  three  or  six  hours.  Do  not  take  more  than  six  or 
eight  of  these  pellets  the  first  day,  and  after  that  less. 
This  is  a  safe  remedy.  If  you  are  subject  to  such 
attacks  when  travelling  and  have  severe  pain,  you  had 
better  take  along  a  bottle  of  Sun  Cholera  Mixture 
tablets.  These  are  not  a  patent  medicine.  The  New 
York  Sun  published  the  formula  for  this  remedy  sev- 
eral times  annually  for  a  good  many  years.  The 
writer  has  been  acquainted  with  this  prescription  for 


TREATMENT  OF  DISEASES  2U1 

over  thirty  years.  They  are  a  potent  remedy  where 
the  more  rational  home  remedies  are  not  accessible. 
Rest  is  very  important  in  these  cases.  Keep  quiet  in 
a  horizontal  position.  Keep  drinking  freely  of  pepper- 
mint or  cinnamon  water  or  any  hot  antiseptic  drinks 
to  keep  the  water  supply  good  in  the  system.  Repeat 
the  second  day  if  it  continues. 

Chronic  Catarrh  of  the  Bowels. 

This  is  a  very  distressing  and  serious  disease  of 
nutrition.  The  best  remedy  is  what  is  known  as  the 
grape  cure,  combined  with  alternations  of  heat  and  cold 
to  the  abdomen  and  a  hot  enema  each  night  just  before 
retiring.  Use  two  quarts  of  water  if  possible,  as  hot 
as  can  be  borne.  Take  it  slowly.  The  grape  cure 
consists  first  and  originally  of  living  on  grapes  and 
nothing  else  for  two  or  three  months,  discarding  the 
seeds  and  skins.  This  means  strictly  antiseptic  diet 
until  all  the  germs  of  the  catarrh  are  fully  destroyed 
from  the  body  and  the  tissues  have  fully  regained  their 
healthy  tone.  In  the  absence  of  grape  juice  any  kind 
of  fruit  juice  may  be  used.  Lemon  juice,  diluted  and 
orange,  apple,  berry  or  cherry  juices  are  best.  Avoid 
ordinary  sugar  as  far  as  possible  in  this  trouble. 
These  other  fruits  are  almost  equally  as  good  as 
grapes,  and  by  having  variety  it  is  more  satisfactory 
to  the  ])atient.  Buttermilk  or  kumyss  makes  an  ex- 
cellent morning  meal  taken  slowly  all  alone.  The 
f|uantity  of  juice  taken  should  be  from  three  to  five 
(|uarts  daily.  All  liquid  foods  should  be  taken  thru  a 
fine  tube  so  as  to  require  some  suction.  This  will  in- 
sure a  full  flow  of  saliva  and  aid  greatly  in  the  prog- 
ress of  the  case.     The  applications  of  heat  and  c<ild  to 

14 


202  ESSENTIALS    TO    LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

the  abdomen  and  an  occasional  extra  hot  enema,  say 
every  other  day,  accelerates  the  cure.  No  one  ever 
starved  to  death  on  this  cure.  They  sometimes  lose 
a  little  flesh,  but  we  have  the  highest  authorities  in  the 
world  recommending  it  for  these  cases. 

Arthritis  Deformans,    also    Miscalled    Deforming 
Rheumatism. 

The  same  diet  we  have  just  recommended  for 
chronic  catarrh  of  the  bowels,  is  the  best  for  this  class 
of  cases.  Couple  with  this  diet  cool  mitten  friction 
graduated  to  the  patient's  temperature  sense  taken  in 
a  warm  room  beginning  say  at  80  degrees  and  working 
down  to  about  60,  and  later  perhaps  a  little  lower,  with 
faradic  electricity  and  massage  to  the  joints,  are  the 
remedies  which  will  give  relief  in  this  hitherto  incur- 
able malady.  The  nurse  should  be  several  days  in 
lowering  the  baths  from  90  to  60  degrees.  This  is  a 
disease  of  nutrition.  The  food  ferments  in  the  ali- 
mentary canal  and  these  ferments  work  their  w'ay  into 
the  blood,  and  thence  to  the  cartileges  and  ligaments. 
They  usually  settle  in  the  joints  of  the  hands  first,  then 
the  bone-making  material  is  deposited  faster  in  some 
parts  than  it  can  be  used,  and  this  causes  the  joints  to 
grow  out  of  shape.  It  is  in  no  way  related  to  rheum- 
atic troubles.  The  nature  of  this  ailment  has  not  yet 
been  fully  grasped,  and  very  few  l:now  the  cure  which 
can  only  be  thoroughly  accomplished  in  the  early 
stages,  r.et  alone  yeast  bread  and  all  forms  of  sugar 
entirely,  except  that  found  in  the  fruits. 

Rheumatism. 

Rheumatism  is  caused  by  too  much  waste,  largely 
uric  acid  in  the  blood.     This  is  what  the  medical  men 


TREATMENT  OF  DISEASES  203 

say.  When  the  patient  is  exposed  to  cold  and  wet  and 
overwork — these  waste  poisons  settle  in  one  joint  or 
another,  usually  two  corresponding  joints.  Then  thru 
a  heroic  effort  at  relief  on  the  part  of  the  nervous 
system  these  poisons  are  dislodged  from  one  set  of 
joints  and  settle  in  another.  The  disease  is  called  self- 
limited,  that  is,  the  patient  will  throw  the  poisons  out 
in  from  two  to  four  weeks  if  the  patient  is  given  rest, 
kept  warm  and  well  irrigated.  These  poisons  accumu- 
late especially  from  flesh-eating,  over-eating,  and  tiie 
use  of  tea  and  coffee  and  stimulants  which  hinder  the 
digestion.  Too  much  good  food  often  fills  the  body 
with  more  waste  material  than  the  depurating  organs 
can  readily  dispose  of,  and  this  may  become  a  cause 
of  rheumatism  or  other  serious  disease.  Damp,  cool 
climates  are  more  conducive  to  rheumatism  because 
they  stimulate  appetite,  but  do  not  induce  perspira- 
tion. Leave  out  the  causes  as  far  as  possible  and 
adopt  the  diet  suggested  for  dyspepsia,  only  be  slight- 
ly more  liberal,  and  most  important  drink  quantities 
of  water  beyond  all  former  calculation,  up  to  ten  or 
twelve  glasses  daily,  some  hot  and  some  cold.  Just 
keep  the  blood  and  lymph  at  a  maximum  state  of 
fluidity  so  that  the  uric  acid  cannot  crystalize  and 
the  blood  thicken  with  the  fever.  This  will  cause 
activity  of  the  skin  and  kidneys  and  throw  out  the 
waste.  Use  hot  and  cold  application  to  the  joints  in 
trouble;  follow  with  massage,  and  close  up  with  a 
heating  compress  for  the  night  over  these  joints. 
This  method  will  make  the  blood  flow  freely,  move  the 
waste  matters  out  of  the  diseased  parts,  and  help  to 
throw  them  out  of  the  system.  Look  after  the  breath- 
ing, tnke  sunbaths,  and  in  dark  weather  use  thi-  cloc- 


204  ESSENTIALS    TO    LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

trie  bath.  I'se  the  warm  l:)lanket  pack  to  give  the 
patient  a  good  thorough  sweat  if  yon  do  not  have  ac- 
cess to  the  electric  light  bath.  Any  form  of  gentle 
prolonged  sweating  will  prove  to  be  a  great  help  to 
shorten  the  duration  of  the  trouble.  Keep  the  body 
warmer  than  usual  with  good  flannel  garments.  This 
will  keep  the  skin  active  and  full  of  blood.  One  half 
of  this  treatment  will  soon  niake  a  commiMi  case  of 
rheumatism  a  thing  of  the  past. 

Neuralgia. 

This  trouble  is  due  practically  to  the  same  causes 
as  rheumatism,  only  the  waste  poison  settles  in  the 
fine  blood  vessels  of  the  nerves  instead  of  around  the 
joints.  While  this  disease  has  been  called  "a  prayer 
of  the  nerves  for  food"  it  might  more  justly  be  called 
a  prayer  of  the  nerves  for  purer,  freer  circulation.  If 
the  blood  was  not  too  thick  uric  acid  crystals  would 
not  form  and  other  poisons  accumulate.  If  a  person 
has  plenty  of  nourishing  food  and  a  fairly  good  di- 
gestion, unless  the  blood  is  kept  as  fluid  as  it  ought 
to  be  the  nutrition  will  not  be  carried  to  the  parts 
where  wanted  and  the  waste  is  liable  to  thicken  and 
stop  in  the  nerves.  Keep  the  blood  flowing  freely, 
and  neuralgia  will  pass  on  unless  chronic  neuritis 
(nerve  inflammation)  has  set  in.  Hot  water  drinking 
in  immense  (juantitios  with  a  little  herb  flavoring,  or 
lemon,  thrown  in  with  alternate  hot  and  cold  appli- 
cations and  massage,  chiefl}'  deep  stroking  backward 
along  the  line  of  the  nerve.  ]>egin  lightly  at  first, 
gradually  deepening  the  work  until  the  ])ain  is  relieved. 
Electricity  is  of  great  value  in  this  trouble  as  well  as 
rheumatism.     These   are   the   all    im])ortant   remedies. 


TREATMENT  OF  DISEASES  205 

Apply  the  other  general  remedies  for  rheumatism  and 
relief  will  soon  come.  Neuritis  needs  a  course  of  san- 
itarium treatments.  It  shoidd  not  be  ncijleotcd  for  a 
day. 

Diabetes. 

This  disease  is  characterized  hy  too  great  a  tiow 
of  urine  usually  containing  an  excess  of  sugar.  The 
skin  is  diy  and  husky  and  the  sugar  is  not  used  uj) 
in  the  muscles  for  force  as  it  should  be.  it  is  sure 
to  wear  out  the  patent  unless  checked  in  its  early 
stages.  The  best  remedies  are  cool  and  cold  sponge 
baths  and  cold  mitten  frictions  with  a  Turkish  towel 
mitten  daily,  and  salt  glows  about  twice  a  week.  Use 
oil  inunction  after  e\ery  treatment.  ^Massage  and 
Swedish  movements  should  be  given  dail}'.  I'^or  food 
use  grains  and  fruits  and  green  vegetables,  with  cream 
and  milk.  Use  the  ordinary  amount  of  soft  water  and 
no  tea  or  coffee.  It  is  wise  not  to  take  any  cane  sugar 
unless  there  is  a  strong  craving  fc)r  it.  The  writer 
heard  one  good  physician  vouch  for  a  cure  of  a  case 
of  sugar  diabetes  by  the  use  of  coarse  brown  sugar, 
giving  the  patient  all  she  wanted  to  eat  in  connection 
with  cold  baths.  This  is  not  a  disease  that  can  be 
cured  by  diet  alone.  Stimulate  the  skin  and  muscles 
as  we  have  indicated  in  the  early  stages  and  you  will 
be  likely  to  check  the  disease  and  possibly  work  the 
bodily  resistance  to  the  point  where  the  patient  will 
hold  his  own  for  years.  No  medicine  will  ha\e  any 
curative  effect  whatever.  Tf  the  patient  is  ordinarily 
strong  and  full  fleshed  he  should  take  hold  of  gym- 
nasium or  ordinary  hard  work  every  day  till  he  is 
quite  weary,  beside   the  cool   bathing   and   some   mas- 


206  ESSEiNTIAIvS    TO    L,IFE    AND    HEALTH 

sage.  There  are  other  remedies  but  these  are  the  im- 
portant ones.  Better  to  know  a  few  things  and  do 
them  faithfully  than  to  know  everything  and  do  noth- 
ing well. 

Best  of  all  in  these  cases,  make  haste,  as  soon  as 
the  disease  is  known,  to  some  good  institution  where 
the  principles  of  this  system  are  understood  and  stay 
until  the  progress  of  the  disease  is  checked.  Medi- 
cines will  not  help  this  disease. 

Bright' s  Disease. 

Bright's  Disease  is  an  inflammation  and  degenera- 
tion of  the  kidneys.  The  acute  form  may  be  treated 
at  home  with  gentle  but  thorough  sweating  and  long 
continued  applications  of  heat  over  the  kidneys;  plenty 
of  soft  water  to  drink,  and  grains,  fruits  and  butter- 
milk taken  sparingly  for  a  few  days.  In  taking  the 
patient  out  of  the  sweat  the  precaution  of  cool  ap- 
plications and  oil  inunction  should  always  be  observed 
and  the  patient  sl\ould  be  kept  specially  warm  all  the 
time.  If  one  has  the  chronic  form  and  casts  have 
begun  to  appear  in  the  urine,  he  had  better  get  to  a 
good  sanitarium  as  soon  as  possible  where  they  un- 
derstand and  practice  the  principles  set  forth  in  this 
volume.  Delays  are  dangerous.  No  drug  medicines 
will  accomplish  anything  for  these  cases.  The  disease 
is  too  serious  for  home  treatment  until  the  patient  has 
taken  the  necessary  lessons  and  has  secured  a  good 
well  trained  nurse  to  watch  over  and  care  for  him. 

Bladder  Trouble. 

Water,  pure   water  to   drink;   bland   foods  without 
irritating  condiments;  grains,  especially  rice  and  bar- 


TREATMENT  OF  DISEASES  207 

ley,  and  mild  fruits ;  sweating  and  skin  stimulation  by 
friction  with  cool  baths  and  inunctions  and  hot  fo- 
mentations and  heating  compresses  over  the  bladder; 
hot  douches  and  enemas;  these,  in  brief,  are  the  rem- 
edies. Distilled  water  drank  freely,  and  heat  and 
cold  applied  over  the  bladder  and  to  the  perineum,  if 
persisted  in,  will  cure  chronic  cases. 

If  the  patient  has  stone  in  the  bladder  he  may  prob- 
ably need  an  operation  for  its  removal.  Once  this  is 
done  and  pure,  soft  or  distilled  water  is  adopted  and 
drank  freely,  the  trouble  will  soon  cease.  This  is  no 
dream.  Nor  is  it  a  fine-spun  theory.  If  the  water 
drank  is  free  from  calcareous  matter,  there  will  be 
none  to  form  into  calculi  in  the  bladder  or  kidneys. 
And  I  want  to  assure  you,  reader,  that  there  is  no  drug 
that  you  can  safely  swallow  that  will  have  the  least 
influence  in  dissolving  these  calculi.  It  is  scientific- 
ally refined  cruelty  to  leave  the  people  in  ignorance 
of  these  great  principles  of  cure,  and  let  them  go  on 
doping  themselves  with  medicines. 

A  case  recently  came  to  the  writer's  knowledge, 
where  the  patient,  a  man  of  65  years,  had  had  an 
irritable  bladder  for  many  years,  having  lived  most 
of  his  life  in  a  hard-water  country.  The  urethra  was 
exceedingly  sensitive  and  the  prostate  was  enlarged  so 
that  in  spite  of  a  severe  surgical  operation  the  use  of 
the  catheter  had  been  a  necessity  twice  daily  for  some 
three  years.  There  was  a  most  peculiar  griping  spasm 
accompanying  every  effort  to  urinate.  The  patient 
was  advised  to  live  on  bland  foods,  such  as  were  free 
from  uric  acid  and  other  irritants;  to  drink  distilled 
water  freely,  and  every  night  wear  a  rubber  hot  water 
bottle    up   between    the    limbs    against    the    perineum. 


208  ESSENTIALS    TO    LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

The  results  were  very  gratifying.  In  three  weeks  the 
catheter  was  abandoned ;  and  in  six  weeks  the  water 
began  to  pass  when  the  patient  was  asleep.  Then  the 
patient  was  advised  in  addition  to  what  was  already 
being  done  to  bathe  the  forks  of  the  thighs  thoroughly 
every  morning  with  very  cold  water.  After  three 
months  the  patient  proclaimed  himself  very  happy 
over  his  condition,  and  at  the  end  of  eight  months  he 
wrote  that  he  was  still  improving,  not  having  been  so 
well  before   in  twenty  years. 

My  friend  along  in  years,  if  you  are  threatened  with 
this  distressing  affliction  better  for  you,  far  better,  if 
you  try  these  simple  natural  remedies  rather  than  re- 
sort to  medicines.  And  ye  young  men,  forestall  the 
future  troubles  before  they  meet  you  like  an  armed 
host. 

Heart  Ti'ouble. 

Most  of  the  so-called  heart  affections  are  due  to  bad 
conditions  in  the  stomach, — indigestion  and  fermenta- 
tion. Of  course  these  will  pass  as  soon  as  the  dyspep- 
sia is  relieved.  But  there  are  real  heart  troubles,  like 
enlargement  and  valvular  diseases,  not  to  go  into  all 
the  minutiae.  Xow  in  order  to  appreciate  what  will 
most  help  the  heart,  we  must  take  in  a  few  facts  of 
physiology. 

There  is  poured  out  of  tlie  healthy  body  daily 
through  the  skin  about  one  pint  of  insensible  perspira- 
tion; about  three  pints  of  urine;  about  a  pint  goes 
out  in  the  breath  witli  an  imknown  (|uantity  passing 
out  through  the  bowels,  making  in  all,  it  is  safe  to  say, 
not  less  than  three  quarts  of  fluid  poured  out  daily, 
and    this   is   all    taken   out   of   the   bloorl.      Nothing  is 


TREATMENT  OF  DISEASES  20',» 

plainer  than  that  this  loss  of  fluid  must  be  constantly 
and  evenl}-  renewed,  and  there  is  no  way  to  do  it  but 
to  put  the  water  l^ack  into  the  blood  through  the 
stomach. 

The  blood  is  the  vehicle  for  conveying  all  the  nutri- 
tion to  every  part  of  the  body.  Now  there  are  many 
blood  passages  in  the  body  especially  about  the  joints 
and  the  skin  of  the  bones,  and  in  the  brain  and  ner\es 
and  even  in  the  skin  that  are  much  smaller  than  fine 
hair.  It  is  a  perfectly  plain  proposition  that  if  the 
blood  is  allowed  to  thicken  for  want  of  water  the  heart 
will  have  to  work  proportionately  harder.  So  if  you 
want  first  to  prevent  the  heart  from  being  overworked, 
or  to  give  relief  to  a  disabled  heart,  keep  the  blood 
supply  clean  by  a  reasonable  use  of  good  pure  foods, 
and  keep  it  in  a  maximum  state  of  fluidity,  but  do 
not  swallow  large  quantities  of  water  at  once.  To  sus- 
tain maximum  fluidity  of  the  blood  in  a  feeble  case 
of  heart  disease  will  require  much  less  water  than 
with  a  person  in  ordinary  health.  Such  a  patient  eats 
much  less  and  takes  much  less  exercise  and  breathes 
less,  hence  there  is  less  waste  going  on  in  the  body 
and  less  water  is  needed  to  keep  the  blood  supply  in 
a  supple  condition.  Xo  person  with  a  weak  heart 
should  take  so  much  water  that  it  will  ooze  into  the 
tissues  and  compress  the  smaller  blood  vessels.  The 
principle  of  water  drinking  is  sound.  It  must  be  used 
with  wisdom  in  all  cases.  The  ordinary  case  may 
take  a  half  a  glass  of  water  e\  cry  half  hour,  exccjit 
two  hours  following  meals,  and  a  full  glass  on  rising 
and  retiring.  This  will  prevent  the  blood  from  being 
irritating  to  the  vahes  of  the  heart,  and  will  enable  it 
to  do  its  work  with  the  least  possible  amount  of  wear 


210  ESSENTIAIvS    TO    LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

and  tear.  The  writer  has  seen  cases  of  what  were 
pronounced  to  be  valvular  heart  disease,  by  first-class 
physicians,  completely  relieved  by  this  plan,  so  that 
the  patients  became  unconscious  of  any  heart  dis- 
turbance whatever.    Of  course  the  diet  was  regulated. 

Points.  Simple,  pure  foods  and  from  three  to  six 
pints  of  fluid  in  the  food  and  drink  daily  are  the  first 
of  all  remedies.  Then  restful  employment  void  of  all 
excitement  and  worry  with  no  incentives  to  violent 
exercise.  A  happy,  cheerful,  hopeful  frame  of  mind. 
Rest  within  the  soul  as  well  as  rest  for  the  body.  Such 
are  the  remedies  for  serious  heart  difficulties.  It  is 
well,  also,  to  add  that  during  cool  weather  diligent 
effort  should  be  maintained  to  keep  the  feet  and  hands 
warm,  and  thus  save  an  extra  effort  of  the  heart  in 
pushing  the  blood  through  the  cold  extremities  and 
helping  to  warm  it  as  it  returns  to  the  heart.  Last, 
but  very  important,  keep  at  low  altitudes,  the  nearer 
sea  level  the  better.  This  will  save  the  heart  a  great 
deal  of  extra  labor. 

Those  who  are  troubled  with  heart  disease,  or  are 
in  a  run  down  weakened  condition  should  never  rise 
suddenly  from  a  reposing  posture  to  a  standing  posi- 
tion. If  very  badly  troubled  rise  on  the  elbow  and 
slowly  come  to  a  sitting  posture.  Then  after  a  mo- 
ment of  deliberation  rise  slowly  to  the  feet.  This  gives 
the  blood  flow  a  chance  to  balance  itself  and  the  heart 
time  to  rally  for  its  extra  work.  It  takes  at  least  one- 
sixth  more  energy  to  circulate  the  blood  when  stand- 
ing than  when  lying  down. 


TREATMENT  OP  DISEASES  211 

Fainting. 

Fainting  is  caused  by  the  blood  suddenly  receding 
from  the  brain  leaving  the  brain  comparatively  empty. 
Lay  the  patient  out  flat  on  the  backk  and  sponge  the 
face  and  chest  with  very  cold  water.  Rest  for  an  hour 
or  two  afterward  and  drink  a  fair  supply  of  hot  water 
and  some  agreeable  fruit  juice.  This  is  all  that  is 
necessary  for  the  emergency.  The  cure  lies  in  im- 
proving the  general  health  by  the  various  means  in- 
dicated in  this  work.  (See  Laws  of  Breathing  and 
Drinking) 

Hay  Fever  and  Asthma. 

The  relationship  between  these  diseases  is  that  hay 
fever  usually  leads  to  asthma.  Hay  fever  being,  as  is 
supposed  by  many  physicians,  a  germ  disease  and 
troublesome  only  for  a  brief  period  of  the  year,  it  pays 
the  one  afflicted  with  it  to  change,  if  possible,  to  some 
other  more  favorable  locali*:y.  A  small  island  far  out 
from  land,  or  a  high  mountain  region  or  a  forest.  There 
is  no  cure  but  prevention.  Relief  may  be  had  perhaps 
by  a  germicide  or  relaxing  inhalation. 

There  are  three  forms  of  asthma.  One  purely 
spasmodic,  caused  by  fear  or  other  emotions.  Another 
caused  by  the  after  effects  of  hay  fever  or  bronchitis, 
and  the  other  by  over-eating.  The  last  two  are  very 
closely  related,  and  the  former  very  rare.  This  dis- 
tressing malady  is  as  much  a  climatic  disease  as  any- 
thing. There  is  a  large  portion  of  the  mountain  cli- 
mates of  the  world,  especially  the  more  arid  regions, 
where  it  is  little  known.  Those  who  suffer  from  it 
cannot  all  change  climate.  A  few  things,  however, 
may  be  done  which  will  greatly  mitigate  the  suffer- 


212  ESSENTIAIvS    TO    LIFK    AND    HEALTH 

iiigs  of  the  asthmatic.  A  rigidly  abstemious  diet,  be- 
inc  careful  not  to  eat  more  than  two  or  three  articles 
at  a  meal,  and  be  sure  they  harmonize. 

This  is  the  way  people  treat  a  horse  that  has  the 
asthma.  He  receives  clean  hay  and  oats  in  very  mod- 
erate quantities,  and  pure  water  to  drink  and  he  is 
never  allowed  to  distend  his  stomach  with  food,  even 
free  green  grass.  It  is  important  to  keep  the  gas  from 
forming  in  the  stomach.  Each  must  find  out  for  him- 
self what  single  things  or  combinations  set  best  on 
the  stomach.  (See  suggestion  on  the  Sterilizing  of 
Bread  in  chapter  10.)  Wheat  and  fruit  or  any  single 
srrain  and  some  fruit ;  rice  and  a  little  cream  and  a 
moderate  quantity  of  beans ;  or  peas  and  vegetables ; 
these  are  all  good  combinations.  There  are  dozens  of 
others.  Buttermilk  alone  makes  an  excellent  meal 
taken  in  reasonable  quantity. 

Cool  sponge  bathing  daily  is  a  great  help.  It  keeps 
the  blood  from  centering  to  the  bronchial  tubes,  throat 
and  head.  Quick  relief  from  paroxyms  of  asthma  may 
be  obtained  by  putting  a  hot  water  rubber  bottle  to 
the  spine  just  below  the  neck  and  an  ice  bag  over  the 
bronchi  in  front  next  to  the  skin.  This  works  like 
magic  in  either  form  of  asthma.  You  needn't  keep 
the  ice  bag  on  more  than  fifteen  minutes.  We  have 
seen  a  man  eighty  years  old  who  had  been  severely 
afflicted  with  asthma  for  forty  years  relieved  of  his 
troubles  so  that  he  woidd  go  for  six  months  without 
a  paroxysm  ;  just  by  simple  diet,  sponge  bathing,  mas- 
sage, and  for  rpiick  relief  a  relaxing  inhalation  instead 
of  Ileal  ;!nd  ice  as  recommended  above. 


TREATMENT  OF  DISEASES  213 

Hiccough, 

Hiccough  is  caused  by  a  spasm  or  contraction  of  the 
circular  or  sphincter  muscle  at  the  upper  end  of  the 
stomach.  The  jerking-  of  the  esophagus  or  meat  pipe 
is  the  effort  to  relieve  the  spasm.  No  matter  what 
the  exciting  cause  the  best  remedy  is  the  swallowing 
of  very  small  sips  of  hot  water  or  even  cool  water 
right  along  steady  for  a  half  a  minute  to  a  minute. 
It  is  the  act  of  swallowing  that  gives  relief  more  than 
the  thing  swallowed.  Another  remedy  which  should 
be  tried  with  this  is  breathing  out  the  breath  as  far 
as  possible  and  holding  it  out  as  long  as  you  can. 
then  breathe  in  all  you  can  using  the  diaphragm  and 
hold  it  in.  Repeat  for  two  or  three  minutes  if  neces- 
sarv.  The  meat  pipe  passes  thru  the  diaphragm  just 
above  where  the  spasm  is  and  in  this  act  of  breathing 
the  diaphragm  pulls  the  meat  pipe  l)ack  and  forth  and 
stretches  the  muscles  of  the  sphincter  in  another  di- 
rection. This  relieves  the  spasm.  A  sudden  surprise 
will  often  stimulate  the  action  of  the  solar  plexus,  and 
this  will  almost  always  change  the  circulation  in  the 
sphincter  and  give  relief  by  causing  it  to  relax. 

Epilepsy. 

This  is  a  paroxysm  of  the  nervous  system.  Evi- 
dently caused  by  poisons  in  the  blood  which  irritate 
the  nerves.  Thousands  of  cases  have  been  greatly 
relieved  and  some  cured  of  the  recurrence  of  the 
spasms  by  adopting  a  strictly  severe  vegetarian  diet, 
and  limiting  themselves  to  the  least  possible  amount 
of  food  which  will  sustain  nature.  We  ha\c  seen  the 
paroxysms  in  a  five-year-old  hoy  cut  down  from  four 
or  five  a  day,  to  one  or  tw(j  a  month  by  clianging  him 


214  ESSENTIALS  TO  LIFE  AND  HEALTH 

fr(ini  a  liberal  six-nieal-a-day  flesh  diet  to  a  three- 
meal  limited  vegetarian  plan.  This  was  accomplished 
in  less  than  two  months  time.  But  this  is  just  the 
one  thing'  that  the  epileptic  hates — being  limited  in  the 
gratification  of  his  desires.  The  mental  stubborn- 
ness to  have  and  eat  any  kind  and  all  they  want  is 
the  thing  that  stands  in  the  way  of  relief  for  these 
cases.  Cut  down  the  free  use  of  salt  and  condiments 
and  limit  the  amount  of  food  to  the  fare  necessities. 
Not  all  cases  can  be  cured,  but  most  can  be  greatly 
relieved.  In  rare  cases  an  operation  at  the  base  ot 
the  brain  gives  relief. 

Night  Terrors  and  Nightmare. 

This  is  due  mostly  to  indigestion  or  slow  digestion 
caused  by  eating  heavy  suppers  of  meat,  especially 
pork,  and  other  foods  difficult  of  digestion.  It  is 
somewhat  akin  to  epilepsy,  a  sort  of  a  spasm  of  the 
muscles.  If  flesh  is  not  good  for  kittens  and  puppies 
it  certainly  cannot  be  good  for  children.  Remedy, 
feed  lightly  at  night  on  rice  and  milk,  or  bread  and 
milk,  or  a  small  amount  of  cereal  and  fruit.  Nobody 
ever  suflfered  any  loss  by  saving  the  heavy  foods  for 
breakfast  and  the  midday  meal.  Light  suppers  will 
in  a  few  days  prepare  the  way  for  a  good  appetite  for 
breakfast,  especially  fruit  suppers.  People  must  leave 
out  the  flesh  of  animals  from  their  food  if  they  would 
have  peace  within  the  vital  domain.  The  body  when 
resting  at  night  should  have  little  to  do  but  take  care 
of  the  material  prepared  thruout  the  previous  day. 
It  should  not  be  compelled  to  do  much  in  preparing 
large  quantities  of  new  material. 

Bed  Wetting. — This  is  a  most  distressing  affliction 


TREATMENT  OF  DISEASES  215 

and  very  humiliating  to  the  child  after  he  has  come  to 
the  years  of  understanding.  It  costs  an  immense 
amount  of  care  and  labor  for  the  mother  or  nurse. 
So  it  is  worth  while  to  diligently  persist  for  two  or 
three  months  if  necessary,  in  a  course  of  simple  treat- 
ment. The  cause  is  a  weakness  or  lack  of  tone  in  the 
"shut  off,"  or  sphincter  muscle  in  the  urethra,  or  outlet 
of  the  bladder.  Eating  freely  of  those  things  which 
make  the  urine  irritating  like  meats  and  condiments 
and  candies  and  tea  and  coffee  and  using  stronger 
drinks  are  exciting  causes.  The  free  use  of  water  late 
in  the  day  will  tend  to  induce  the  trouble. 

The  remedy  is  cool  or  cold  application  to  the  peri- 
neum. Bathe  between  the  limbs  close  up  to  the  body 
with  cold  water  for  two  to  five  minutes  night  and 
morning.  In  females,  syringe  a  little  cold  water  into 
the  vagina  for  two  or  three  inches  so  as  to  get  the 
water  as  far  back  as  possible  on  the  urethra.  This 
use  of  cold  water  is  a  very  important  remedy.  A 
most  necessarv  form  of  exercise  is  Iving  on  the  back 
and  lifting  up  the  limbs  as  nearly  straight  as  possible. 
Then  work  the  legs  on  the  thigh  joints  twisting  and 
training  them  in  every  direction.  Do  this  for  five  to 
ten  minutes  three  times  a  day.  This  will  put  strength 
and  tone  into  every  muscle  in  and  about  the  thighs. 
If  the  child  is  old  enough  to  understand  teach  him 
every  time  he  makes  water  during  the  day  to  shut  il 
off  two  or  three  times.  This  voluntary  effort  will 
exercise  the  sphincter  muscles  and  make  them 
stronger  so  they  will  hold  when  he  is  asleep.  Give  no 
drinks  or  fluid  foods  after  four  o'clock.  Do  all  you 
can  to  make  the  child  sleep  on  its  sides  instead  of  the 


216  ESSENTIALS  TO  LIFE  AND  HEALTH 

back.     Don't  scold  or  punish.     The  cliild  has  cnou.<jh 
to  endure  already. 

Catarrh. 

This  unpleasant  disease  is  caused  by  overaction 
of  the  mucous  membranes  of  the  nose,  throat  and 
bronchi,  from  two  causes,  first,  too  much  blood  in  the 
parts;  second,  i;erm  irritations.  By  long  continued 
exposure  to  cold,  the  blood  is  driven  out  of  the  skin. 
The  skin  becomes  inactive  and  the  internal  organs, 
including  the  membranes,  are  compelled  to  do  some 
of  the  work  of  the  skin.  Stimulant  foods  and  drinks 
also  call  the  blood  in,  and  the  only  thing  the  body  can 
do  to  protect  itself,  is  to  pour  out  mucus  into  the  throat 
and  nasal  passages  to  allay  the  fever  and  drought 
which  the  congestion  and  germs  are  producing.  The 
germs  would  do  little  harm  if  the  temperature  of  these 
passages  had  not  been  raised  above  normal  by  the 
congestion. 

The  most  natural  thing  to  do  for  such  a  condition 
is  to  adopt  a  plain  diet  of  grains,  fruits  and  vegetables, 
with  some  eggs,  cream  and  milk.  The  less  sugar  and 
condiment  and  stimulants  and  fat  meats  the  better. 
Then  see  that  the  body  is  well  clothed  so  as  to  keep 
the  circulation  to  the  surface.  Use  cold  sponge  baths, 
cold  mitten  friction,  dry  towel  or  flesh  brush  rubs, 
oil  rubs,  and  everything  to  make  the  skin  active  and 
keep  it  active  and  warm  and  prevent  taking  cold. 
A  warm  equable  climate  will  help  wonderfully,  in 
many  cases  working  a  cure  where  nothing  else  but 
change  of  climate  is  done.  In  a  year  or  two  these 
remedies  will  change  conditions,  so  that  a  bad  case  of 
catarrh  will  be  almost,  if  not  quite  forgotten.     If  t\ie 


TREATMENT  OF  DISEASES  217 

case  is  so  bad  as  to  be  offensively  foul,  hot  saline  nasal 
douches  will  be  a  necessity.  Take  two  teaspoonfuls 
of  salt  to  a  quart  of  water ;  use  fountain  syringe,  mak- 
ing the  water  as  hot  as  can  be  borne,  hanging  the 
syringe  a  foot  or  two  above  the  head.  Place  tube  in 
one  nostril,  close  the  mouth  and  let  the  water  pass 
out  of  the  other  nostril.  Same  for  both  nostrils.  Then 
stopping  one  nostril  with  the  thumb,  let  the  water 
pass  into  the  nostril  and  out  of  the  mouth ;  same 
for  other  nostril,  changing  back  and  forth  two  or  three 
times.  This  should  be  used  twice  a  day  for  several 
days  or  weeks.  It  is  best  to  use  this  in  all  cases 
before  the  foul  condition  prevails.  Aluch  more  can 
be  done  for  severe  cases  at  a  good  institution.  Cases 
of  catarrh  should  be  looked  after  early,  for  they  lead 
directly  to  one  form  of  deafness,  and  to  consumption. 
1>ronchitis,  catarrh  of  the  stomach,  liver  and  bowels; 
and  indirectly,  some  good  physicians  say,  to  gall- 
stones. Chronic  catarrh  is  the  result  of  repeatedly 
taking  cold,  hence  study  how  not  to  take  cold.  Some 
cases  will  never  get  well  until  they  have  a  permanent 
change  of  climate. 

Hook  Worm  Disease. 

Hook  worms  have  been  known  in  the  tropical  and 
subtropical  portions  of  the  old  world  for  a  long  time. 
They  have  been  found  in  dogs  and  sheep  and  in  man- 
kind. It  remained  for  Dr.  Charles  Wardwell  Stiles. 
Chief  of  the  Division  of  Zoology  of  the  United  States 
Public  Health  and  Marine  Hospital  Service,  to  dem- 
onstrate their  existence  as  a  cause  of  much  of  the 
misery  and  wretchedness  of  the  poor  ^leople  in  our 
Southern    States.      Dr.    Stiles    has    shown    beyond    all 

15 


218  ESSENTIALS    TO    LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

question  that  what  has  been  called  "pernicious  ma- 
laria," "the  bloat,"  "the  big  lazy,"  and  many  other 
similarly  suggestive  names ;  and  which  gave  the  people 
that  cadaverous  look,  "that  yellow  wrinkled  waxy 
skin,"  and  those  melancholy,  expressionless  counte- 
nances so  common  among  the  poor  people  of  the 
South;  is  all  due  to  the  hook  worm.  Dr.  Stiles  esti- 
mates that  about  68  per  cent  of  the  farms  in  the 
South  are  infected,  and  that  at  least  20  per  cent  of  the 
poorer  population  are  suffering  from  the  hook  worm 
disease.  In  some  districts  he  found  as  high  as  50 
per  cent  of  the  adults  and  80  per  cent  of  the  children 
had  fallen  victims  to  this  parasite.  Dr.  Stiles  has 
thus  far  received  perhaps  more  abuse  and  reproach  and 
ridicule  than  appreciation  for  his  painstaking  efforts 
that  have  opened  the  way  for  the  restoration  to  health 
of  probably  two  millions  of  sufferers. 

The  parasite  multiplies  in  the  soft,  warm  moist 
earth  which  has  been  infected  with  the  bowel  dis- 
charges of  some  sufferer.  They  enter  the  body  through 
the  tender  portions  of  the  feet  and  after  wandering 
about  through  the  system  for  a  time  finally  locate  in 
the  intestines.  Dr.  Stiles  went  about  his  work  of 
making  practical  use  of  his  discovery  by  at  once  com- 
mencing the  treatment  of  those  who  gave  evidence 
of  being  afflicted ;  and  he  has  personally  carried  <^n 
the  campaign  of  education  and  treatment  in  several 
places  during  the  last  few  years. 

It  is  fortunate  that  the  remedy  is  very  simple. 
Four,  five-grain  capsule  doses  of  thymol,  followed 
by  a  dose  of  Epsom  salts,  is  the  remedy.  Take  the 
capsules  during  the  day  three  or  four  hours  apart  and 
at   night   take  the   salts.     This   ought   to  be   repeated 


TREATMENT  OF  DISEASES  21^ 

twice  a  week  for  two  or  three  weeks.  Some  bad  cases 
may  take  ten  weeks  to  cure.  The  bowel  discharges 
should  all  go  into  the  vault  and  the  people  who  want 
to  escape  infection  must  wear  shoes. 

This  important  discovery  and  the  remedy  will  be 
appreciated  by  millions  in  the  subtropical  portions 
of  our  continent.  It  gives  promise  of  ridding  our 
fair  Southland  of  an  incubus  that  has  been  hanging 
over  the  people  there  for  a  century  and  holding  back 
progress  in  every  line. 

Tape  Worm. 

Don't  think  yu\.\  have  got  one  until  you  find  some 

of  the  joints  in  the  bowel  discharges.  Then  get  a 
dose  of  "Palleterrine  de  Tanret."  Any  first-class  drug- 
gist can  get  it  for  you.  Live  on  white  bread  and  milk 
three  days,  clear  the  bowels  each  morning  with  a  large 
hot  enema,  and  the  third  day  take  the  dose  and  fol- 
low it  with  a  big  dose  of  castor  oil  according  to  the 
accompanying  directions.  There  will  be  little  doubt 
about  the  results.  Be'sure  you  have  got  the  head.  You 
will  find  it  at  the  end  of  a  slim  long  neck  about  the 
size  of  a  small  knitting  needle;  then  you  will  ha\e 
mental  as  well  as  physical  rest.  This  remedy  is  an 
extract  of  pomegranate  root.  It  is  the  surest  cure 
known.  You  get  this  parasite  from  eating  the  flesh 
of  cattle,  sheep,  or  hogs.  A  worse  one.  Trichina 
Spiralis,  you  get  from  pork  eating,  and  you  can't  get 
rid  of  it,  as  it  imbeds  itself  in  the  muscles,  giving  }<'u 
all  the  symptoms  of  muscular  rheumatism.  If  y<>u 
get  enough  of  them,  they  will  finish  your  career.  Tin's 
is  not  the  greatest  objection  against  pork  eating. 
Moral,  don't  eat  pork,  and  train  yourself  <>nt  "f  an 
appetite  for   fiesh  generally. 


220  ESSENTIALS    TO    LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

Bilious  Troubles. 

Bilious  Attacks,  arc  due  almost  entirely  to  eating 
animal  foods,  especially  pork,  and  drinking"  tea  and 
coffee.  Large  quantities  of  beans,  peas,  peanuts,  or 
cheese  and  nuts  will  also  cause  these  attacks.  The 
true  remedy  is  to  remove  the  cause.  Take  none  of  the 
])ad  foods  or  drinks,  and  eat  wisely  of  the  good  ones. 
To  relieve  the  awful  sickness,  take  a  big  hot  soap 
and  water  enema,  and  drink  all  the  hot  drink  you 
possibly  can.  Keep  at  it  for  two  or  three  hours. 
If  the  vomiting  continues  after  the  stomach  is  thor- 
oughly empt}',  swallow  bits  of  ice  chopped  uj)  to  the 
size  of  beans.  Take  two  or  three  heaping  tablespoon- 
fuls.  if  necessary.  This  is  a  very  sure  remedy  for 
\(»miting  after  the  stoniach  is  empty.  There  is  no 
drug  half  so  prompt  and  eft'ective.  For  ])ain  use  heat 
oA'er  the  stomach  and  bowels. 

Tuberculosis  of  the  Lungs  (Consumption.) 

This  scourge  of  civilization,  if  taken  in  its  earlier 
stages,  may  be  fully  cured.  It  has  been  supposed  that 
this  disease  is  caused  by  In-cathing  in  the  germs  from 
dried  sputum  of  other  consumptives.  But  the  highest 
authorities  employed  by  the  United  States  Govern- 
ment now  affirm  that  the  disease  enters  the  body  in 
nearly  every  case  by  way  of  the  stomach.  It  has  been 
fully  demonstrated  that  milk,  cream  and  butter  and 
cheese  are  the  chief  sources  of  infection,  especially 
butter.  The  milk  of  one  tuberculosis  cow  can  con- 
laminate  the  milk  of  a  whole  dairy.  The  only  way 
to  destroy  the  germ  is  by  sterilization,  or  Pasteuriza- 
tion.    Bulletin  127  of  the  Bureau  of  Animal   Industry 


TREATMENT  OF  DISEASES  221 

deals  extensively  with  this  question.  It  is  almost 
terrorizing'  to  learn  how  rapidly  this  disease  is  in- 
creasing, 1:)oth  in  animals,  and  mankind.  One  cow  in 
everv  four  in  the  District  of  Columbia  had  tuberculosis 
in  I'^OS.  What  of  other  sections?  The  disease  may 
also  l)e  taken  and  exist  in  an  entirely  different  form  in 
various  parts  of  the  l)ody,  from  the  same  causes  or 
from  eating  the  tiesh  of  tuberculous  cattle,  or  it  may 
be  inoculated  into  the  blood  through  a  woinid.  This 
latter  form  of  the  disease  settles  in  the  glands  and 
joints.  IIii)-ail  is  one  form  of  it.  Sometimes  its  prog- 
ress ma}'  be  stayed  and  sometimes  not.  When  it  is 
stayed  it  always  leaves  its  mark  in  the  form  of  a 
stiff  joint  or  swollen  gland.  For  this  class  of  trouble 
the  only  stne  remedy  is  to  a\oid  the  causes.  It  takes 
a  g'ood  dcid  of  cooking",  baking  and  boiling  to  close 
this  avenue  i^i  approach  against  this  terrible  form  '^f 
ine  disea^.e,  il"  }'ou  are  a  tlesh  eater. 

Pj'.U  v>n'  may  deal  successfully  with  the  form  kncjwn 
as  lung  ( oM^umption.  The  essential  reu'erhes  arf^ 
first,  and  abundance  of  good  food ;  good  fresh  eggs 
wdth  whole  grains,  potatoes  and  fruits.  Pure  sterilized, 
milk  and  cream  will  be  good  for  those  wdio  like  them. 
These  patients  should  have  what  they  like,  if  it  is  good 
food  and  can  be  easily  digested,  but  as  in  all  other 
cases,  they  should  n(»t  mix  fruits  and  vegetables,  or 
milk  and  cream  with  acid  fruit.  The  diet  must  be 
liberal,  all  tlie  patient  can  take  care  of. 

If  tlie  patient  has  been  accustomed  to  tlesh  diet 
it  will  be  best  to  allow  a  moderate  use  of  meats  which 
are  known  to  be  healthy,  especially  if  there  is  a  strong 
cra\  ing  for  them.  This  is'  a  poor  occasion  to  dis- 
cijiline  the  bod\-   when   il   has  on   hand  all   that   it  can 


222  ESSENTIALS    TO    LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

possibly  attend  to.  Be  sure  such  foods  are  more  than 
thoroughly  cooked  and  discourage  their  use  all  that 
you  reasonably  can.  There  is  abundance  of  nutrition 
in  the  vegetable  world  for  the  feeblest  as  well  as  the 
strongest. 

It  will  be  a  blessed  day  for  us  all  when  we  learn 
that  we  can  find  full  and  perfect  nutrition  in  the 
grains,  fruits  and  vegetables,  and  when  our  perverted 
tastes  are  reconciled  to  the  change. 

The  next  most  important  thing  is  to  gently  force 
the  breathing;  (study  Uses  of  Air  and  Breathing  as 
a  Remedy),  thus  bringing  the  lung  tissues  into  exer- 
cise, and  at  the  same  time  stimulating  digestion  by  the 
motion  imparted  to  the  stomach  and  bowels  and  liver 
and  other  blood  making  organs.  This  is  best  attained 
by  seeking  an  altitude  of  from  two  thousand  to  five 
thousand  feet,  where  the  air  is  pure,  or  even  as  high 
as  seven  thousand  feet.  In  these  elevated  regions 
the  patient  is  compelled  to  take  about  twice  as  much 
breath  as  ordinarily.  In  low  altitudes  the  patient  must 
be  trained  to  make  special  efforts  in  breathing  to  se- 
cure this  same  end.  It  will  take  the  presence  of  a 
special  trainer  to  keep  him  busy  enough  at  it  for  his 
own  good.  It  is  much  better  to  seek  the  higher  alti- 
tude as  this  compels  the  breathing,  but  the  patient,  if 
weak,  should  go  up  by  degrees,  staying  ten  days  or 
longer  at  a  three  or  four  thousand  foot  altitude,  then 
as  he  gets  used  to  it  he  may  go  higher.  He  should 
sleep  out  of  doors  or  where  the  circulation  of  air 
is  not  hindered.  Look  out  that  enough  fluids  are 
taken  to  keep  the  circulation  in  good  condition  and 
the  bowels  moist. 

.See  that  the  body  is  kept  warm  with  sufficient  cloth- 


TREATMENT  OF  DISEASES  223 

ing  and  'give  daily  some  dry  hand  or  towel  friction 
to  the  entire  surface.  The  bowels  must  be  kept  open 
by  laxative  foods,  graham  bread,  fruit,  olive  oil,  cream 
and  green  foods,  and  abundance  of  water.  Only  a 
very  moderate  amount  of  exercise  should  be  taken  at 
first.  Save  all  the  energy  of  the  body  and  direct  it 
to  the  lungs  by  proper  breathing.  The  matter  of 
altitude  I  want  to  repeat  is  of  most  importance,  be- 
cause it  compels  full  breathing,  causing  two  or  three 
times  as  much  breath  to  be  inhaled  as  at  sea  level,  on 
account  of  the  rarity  of  the  air.  People  of  the  low  lands 
can  have  no  just  conception  of  what  this  means  until 
they  have  had  the  experience.  These  remedies  with 
sunshine  and  out  of  door  life  contain  the  secret  of 
cure.  Of  those  who  remain  at  the  low  levels  a  very 
large  proportion  will  die,  just  for  want  of  forced 
respiration,  that  is  because  they  do  not  have  the  energy 
to  breathe,  no  matter  how  perfect  the  other  condi- 
tions may  be.  Those  who  seek  the  higher  altitudes 
at  once,  as  soon  as  their  trouble  is  known,  will,  with 
rare  exceptions  get  well  if  they  have  other  favorable 
conditions.  The  aroma  of  a  pine  or  fir  forest  at  these 
high  levels  will  prove  a  great  advantage  to  the  patient. 
This  is  the  author's  confidence  in  altitudes  as  an  aid 
to  the  cure  of  lung  consumption,  and  he  has  no  ax 
to  grind. 

Don't  fail  to  make  sure  of  pure  air  for  the  patient 
wherever  he  is. 

Bronchitis. 

To  relieve  this  trouble  avoid  breathing  chilly  damp 
air  and  the  drinking  of  very  cold  drinks,  especially 
in    hot    weather.      Cane    sugar   produces   a    condition 


224  ESSENTIALS    TO    LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

in  the  body  which  leads  to  irritation  of  the  throat. 
Honey  is  all  right.  Use  oily  foods  like  cream  and 
some  nut  or  olive  oil.  On  the  whole,  be  rather  sparing 
of  food,  chewing  as  in  dyspepsia,  then  use  cool  water, 
sponge  or  hand  baths  every  morning.  Salt  rubs  all 
over  the  body  two  or  three  times  a  week  and  cold 
mitten  friction  every  other  day.  Oil  the  body  lightl\' 
all  over  after  every  treatment.  These  are  the  all- 
important  things;  get  the  blood  back  into  the  skin 
and  keep  it  there  and  so  eat  that  there  will  be  as 
little  waste  as  possible  in  the  blood.  Take  an  alter- 
nate hot  and  cold  foot  bath  every  night ;  wear  a  heating 
compress  on  the  throat  every  night,  and  an  abdomi- 
nal girdle.  This  treatment  kept  up  for  a  few  weeks 
will  make  a  marked  change  for  the  better  and  effect 
a  permanent  cure  in  most  cases.  This  disease  should 
be  looked  after  early  as  one  is  liable  to  contract  tuber- 
culosis of  the  larynx  and  bronchi,  which  is  practically 
incurable.  The  warm  climates  alone  mentioned  under 
"Prevention  of  Colds,"  and  "Catarrh"  are  almost  a 
])anacea  for  bronchitis.  It  pays  to  change  to  the  cli- 
mate of  Southern  California,  Arizona,  or  New  or  Old 
^lexico  with  this  trouble.  In  Europe  it  would  pay  to 
go  to  Egypt,  or  any  northern  part  of  Africa.  Gener- 
ally, it  is  best  to  keep  away  from  the  coast,  say  fifteen 
to  thirty  miles  back. 

Sore  Throat. 

This  term  covers  a  multiudc  of  symptoms  among 
the  delicate  organs  of  the  throat.  A  general  sugges- 
tion which  will  co\cr  the  most  cases  may  be  made 
as  follows.  •  1'akc  a  hot  and  cold  alternation  foot 
l)ath   lor  half  (jr  three-quarters  of  an   hour.     Put   the 


TREATMENT  OF  DISEASES 


J.J.O 


feet  in  hot  water  up  to  the  knees  if  possible  for  five 
minutes.  Then  in  cold  for  one-half  to  one  minute. 
Keep  the  hot  water  as  hot  as  can  be  borne  by  put- 
ting- in  more  hot  as  it  cools  and  make  the  cold  as 
cold  as  it  can  be,  even  ice  in  the  water,  is  all  right. 
This  draws  the  blood  to  the  feet  and  legs.  Now  near 
the  close  of  the  foot  bath  put  hot  fomentations  (see 
fomentations)  about  the  throat  from  ear  to  ear  for  ten 
minutes;  this  will  bring  the  blood  still  more  from 
the  inside  of  the  throat  to  the  skin.  Xow  place  a 
heating  compress  about  the  throat  and  put  the  patient 
to  bed  with  something  hot  to  his  feet.  Don't  forget 
to  drink  a  quart,  or  so,  of  hot  lemonade  during  the 
treatment.  This  will  give  relief  in  most  every  case.  .V 
good  inhalation  is  a  great  help  in  most  cases.  For 
formula  see  "How  to  Stop  a  Hacking  Cough,"  Chap  10. 

Attend  to  the  sore  throats  faithfully  and  practice 
instruction  "How  to  Pre\ent  Taking  Cold,"  espe- 
cially during  the  seasons  when  diphtheria  is  most 
likely  to  be  prevalent,  for  these  things  are  what  make 
diphtheria  possible. 

Diphtheria  can  develop  only  in  a  diseased  or  weak- 
ened mucDUs  membrane.  .\  healthy  throat  will  not  per- 
mit the  germs  to  incubate.  Whenever  a  sore  throat  be- 
gins to  show  white  or  yellow  leathery  patches  espe- 
cially  about  the  tonsils  it  is  time  to  begin  action  for 
diphtheria.  I'sc  the  hot  and  cold  foot  bath  as  in  sore 
throat  (read  carefully),  then  steam  the  throat  with 
fumes  of  slacking  lime.  Put  a  \V\ece  of  lime  as  large 
or  larger! than  a  man's  fist  in  a  kettle  and  pour  on  a 
pint  of  hot  water.  It  will  begin  to  slack  at  once. 
T.et  the  patient  sit  with  face  o\er  this  kettle  with 
a    sheet    or    blanket    thrown    over    the    head    reaching 


226         ESSEJNTIALS    TO    LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

down  to  the  floor  to  keep  in  the  fumes.  Add  a  little 
more  water  after  a  few  minutes.  Open  the  mouth 
wide  and  breathe  in  through  the  mouth  and  nostrils 
all  the  fumes  you  can  for  ten  or  fifteen  minues.  It  is 
the  tiny  motes  of  lime  that  destroy  the  germs.  Repeat 
every  hour  or  two  the  first  day.  Between  times  put 
the  patient  to  bed  and  apply  the  ice  pack  over  the 
throat.  Change  once  in  an  hour  to  hot  fomentations 
for  three  minutes.  All  the  while  keep  something 
hot  to  the  feet  and  give  the  patient  plenty  of  lemonade 
to  drink  and  let  him  eat  pineapple  freely,  and  often. 
The  ice  treatment  should  be  kept  up  most  of  the  time 
for  the  first  day.  This  is  the  time,  the  very  first  day, 
to  abort  diphtheria.  It  pays  to  be  faithful  for  the 
first  twenty-four  hours.  The  secret  of  cure  lies  in 
doing  all  you  can  to  lessen  the  fever  in  the  throat. 
This  is  best  accomplished  by  drawing  the  blood  to 
the  feet  and  by  cooling  the  throat  with  ice.  Then 
labor  all  the  time  to  destroy  the  germs  and  prevent 
the  membrane  forming.  Permanganate,  either  of  Pot- 
ash, or  Soda,  one  dram  to  quart  of  water  makes  an 
excellent  gargle  and  should  be  used  two  or  three  times 
an  hour  faithfully.  In  infants  use  it  with  a  swab. 
Anti-toxin  is  used  generally  now  by  most  physicians. 
It  works  on  the  plan  of  putting  something  into  the 
blood  to  counteract  or  antidote  the  poison  which  the 
germs  generate.  It  is  of  little  use  after  the  third 
day.  To  be  really  effective  it  should  be  used  the 
first  day.  The  treatments  above  recommended  are 
safe  and  nearly  always  effective  and  may  be  used 
in  conjunction  with  the  Anti-toxin.  It  is  a  dangerous 
disease  and  requires  the  skill  of  an  experienced  physi- 
cian and  nurse.     These  are  the  principles  involved  in 


TREATMENT  OF  DISEASES  227 

the  treatment  of  this  severe  malady.  There  are  other 
particulars.  Don't  undertake  to  manage  a  case  alone 
unless  you  are  obliged  to. 

To  Break  Up  a  Cold  in  the  Head. 

The  very  morning  when  the  nose  first  stops  up,  wet 
the  scalp  and  hair  with  cold  water.  Wet  for  three 
inches  only,  out  from  the  scalp  if  you  are  a  woman. 
Then  wrap  the  head  up  close  for  the  night  in  a  heavy 
Turkish  towel,  or  a  heavy  woollen  flannel.  Drink 
two  or  three  glasses  of  water,  hot  lemonade,  or  any 
herb  tea  you  like.  Your  cold  will  probably  be  gone 
in  the  morning.  Flavored  water  enables  you  to  drink 
more,  which  is  a  very  essential  thing.  See  that  the 
hair  is  dried  out  thoroughly  in  the  morning.  Take 
a  good  thorough  dry  Turkish  or  cool  wet  rub,  followed 
with  oil,  according  to  whether  you  have  a  warm 
room  or  not  to  take  it  in,  and  you  will  rise  above 
the  present  attack.  Colds  may  often  be  broken  up 
at  the  start  by  full  deep  breathing,  plentiful  use  of 
water  and  fasting  for  a  day.  All  that  is  necessary  to 
do  is  to  get  right  down  to  business  and  do  the  work. 
This  clears  the  body  for  action  and  equalizes  the  cir- 
culation. 

Influenza  or  La  Grippe. 

This  diease  is  known  by  symptoms  of  a  severe  cold 
and  tormenting  aches  in  the  muscles.  Do  not  wait 
until  the  aches  begin  to  be  severe  before  you  attack 
the  trouble.  When  the  first  symptoms  appear  clear 
the  bowels  with  a  large  enema,  drink  a  large  quantity 
of  hot  water  or  of  any  herb  tea  you  like  and  some 
hot  lemonade.     Tlicn  take  a  hot  foot  and  leg  bath,  as 


28  ESSENTIALS    TO    LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

hot  as  can  be  borne  up  to  the  knees,  for  twenty  min- 
utes or  half  an  hour,  or  the  hot  blanket  pack,  until 
you  sweat  freely;  then  take  to  bed  and  wrap  u]) 
well  with  heavy  blankets;  put  something"  hut  to  thr 
feet  and  a  hot  water  bottle  to  the  back  between  the 
shoulders,  drink  a  glass  of  water  every  time  you  wake 
u[)  during  the  night  and  by  morning  you  will  haA-e 
sweat  most  of  the  trouble  out.  The  main  thing  is  a 
good  thorough  sweat.  Bathe  off  the  next  morning, 
keep  on  drinking  moderately,  and  rest  a  day  or  so. 
You  may  have  to  take  the  second  sweat  if  you  have 
waited  too  long  before  beginning.  If  the  flesh  aches 
after  the  first  sweat  drink  more  and  sweat  more,  and 
take  a  good  massage  treatment.  Ji^ist  wash  it  out 
and  after  you  have  sweat  the  water  well  out  of  the 
blood  drink  again  so  the  blood  will  not  thicken,  and 
the  poison  settle  again  in  the  muscles.  As  long  as 
the  flesh  aches  it  pays  to  keep  drinking  and  sweating 
and  mani]iulating.  Tn  some  cases  a  good  cascara 
cathartic  is  in  order.  Never  take  a  sweat  unless  the 
bowels  are  comparatively  empty. 

Congestion  of  the  Lungs. 

This  trouble  is  (piite  sure  to  develop  into  pneumonia. 
If  there  is  much  fever,  cold  applications  to  the  chest 
changed  often  and  cool  enemas  used  thoroughl}'  enough 
to  keep  the  temperature  below  102  degrees  \\\\\  l)c 
absolutely  necessary.  An  exceedingly  effective  thing 
is  the  sweating  ])ack  (see  how  to  gi\'c  a  sweat)  and 
keep  very  cold  applications  all  o\er  the  chest  and 
lungs  while  in  the  hot  pack.  Better  not  put  the  cold 
on  tintil  the  sweat  has  well  started.  This,  if  skillfully 
applied,  will  abort  pneumonia  on  the  start.     Do  not 


TREATMENT  OF  DISEASES  229 

leave  the  cold  on  more  than  twenty  minutes  at  a  time. 
Change  to  hot  application  for  two  or  three  minutes 
and  then  replace  cold.  The  most  convenient  thing 
to  apply  cold  is  the  large  rubber  water  bottle  halt 
full  of  ice  water. 

There  are  those  among  medical  men  who  under- 
stand this  method;  they  are  the  safest  physicians.  Drug 
medicines  only  depress  the  vital  energies  in  these 
cases,  and  lessen  the  chances  of  recovery. 

Inflamation  of  the  Lungs  (Pneumonia.) 

Give  the  patient  plenty  of  fruit  juices  of  every  kind 
lie  likes  to  drink,  especially  lemonade,  orange,  grape 
or  apple  juice,  and  plenty  of  cool  pure  distilled  water. 
Apply  cool  sponging  every  hour  or  two  for'  fifteen 
minutes  whenever  the  temperature  rises  above  102 
or  103  degrees.  But  best  of  all  put  the  hot  water 
spinal  bag  between  the  shoulders  and  a  broad  applica- 
tion of  ice  poultice  over  the  chest  and  lungs,  using  the 
caution  not  to  continue  the  ice  more  than  twenty  min- 
utes at  a  time  without  change  to  heat  for  three  min- 
utes. This  will  check  the  development  of  the  Pneu- 
mococcus  in  the  lungs  and  convey  the  blood  away 
from  the  lungs.  Keep  up  this  course  of  treatment  for 
two  or  three  hours  at  a  time. 

Anemia. 

This  is  a  blood  disease.  The  question  is  how  tc 
renew  the  blood,  how  to  induce  the  body  to  make- 
good  blood.  Sunshine,  breathing,  and  water  drinking 
stand  first.  Give  cold  mitten  friction,  lireak  up  the 
lazy  habits  of  breathing.  Massage  to  the  stomach 
and  abdomen   are  a  wonderful  aid.     Give  the  patient 


230  ESSENTIALS    TO    LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

good  rich,  but  not  greasy  foods,  and  in  a  few  days  your 
patient  will  be  on  the  high  road  to  perfect  recovery. 
This  disease  occurs  most  often  in  girls  just  after 
they  have  learned  to  wear  the  corset.  It  is  known 
then  under  the  name  of  "Chlorosis."  The  bands  must 
be  loosened  and  every  garment  hung  from  the  shoul- 
ders. Let  the  waist  line  expand,  so  that  breathing  can 
be  natural.  No  use  doing  anything  without  this. 
You  may  take  iron  for  the  blood  as  long  as  you  like, 
but  you  will  get  meager  results  without  the  breathing 
and  sunshine.  Very  few  women  there  are  who  can- 
not in  a  few  weeks  enlarge  their  waist  line  from  twn 
to  three  inches  with  great  improvement  to  their  health. 
These  seemingly  simple  things  are  what  tell  for  health 
in  this  malady.  The  vibratory  breathing  should  be 
kept  prominently  before  the  patient's  mind. 


Spasms. 

Too  much,  or  too  little  blood  in  the  brain  is  liable 
to  result  in  spasms.  If  too  much  is  the  cause,  the  face 
will  be  red  and  flushed,  if  too  little  the  face  will  be 
blanched  and  pale.  In  the  first  class  of  cases  put 
the  child  in  a  warm  bath  at  100  degrees  just  as  soon 
as  possible  for  fifteen  to  twenty  minutes.  As  soon 
as  the  spasm  is  over  rub  the  skin  vigorously  with 
w'ater  at  85  degrees  for  five  minucs.  Give  the  child 
a  good  additional  supply  of  pure  water  to  drink  and 
I)ut  it  to  bed  for  a  day  or  two. 

If  the  blood  has  receded  from  the  brain  drop  the 
head  downward  and  hold  it  in  that  position  for  se\- 
eral  minutes  until  the  color  comes  back  to  the  face, 
then  gi\-e  plenty  of  water  to  drink  and  put  the  child 
to  rest.      X(A\    in   every  case  of  spasms   look  out   fur 


TREATMENT  OF  DISEASES  231 

worms,  if  there  are  other  evidences  of  their  presence 
give  a  good  vermifuge  and  keep  the  supply  of  water 
in  the  blood.  No  other  medicine  will  be  needed.  See 
that  the  child  has  pure  milk  and  a  clean  nipple  to 
nurse.  If  weaned,  pure  simple  food  and  water  and 
warmth  and  rest  are  all  the  further  attention  the  little 
one  will  need. 
Holding  the  Breath. 

If  a  child  loses  his  temper  because  you  cross  his 
way  and  holds  his  breath  to  scare  you  into  obedience. 
just  drop  him  head  downward  over  your  knee  and 
administer  a  few  surprise  spanks  with  a  rather  heavy 
hand.  When  he  finds  out  that  mother  understands 
him  and  is  not  frightened  over  his  demonstrations, 
he  will  give  up  his  tactics  and  forget  all  about  holding 
his  breath. 

Choking. 

In  cases  of  choking,  drop  the  head  downward  (in 
your  sloping  lap  and  spat  the  back  between  the  should- 
ers and  over  the  ribs  quite  hard. 

Hysteria. 

This  is  not  a  perverse  mental  state.  It  is  caused  to  a 
great  extent  by  disturbances  in  the  physical  system 
which  send  too  much  blood  to  the  base  of  the  brain. 
The  most  effective  immediate  relief  is  an  ice  bag  i" 
the  base  of  the  brain.  This  will  give  rest  from  the 
nervous  turmoil  at  once. 

For  general  remedies,  improve  the  general  health 
as  suggested  under  "Anema"  and  look  carefully  after 
uterine  conditions.  In  most  of  these  cases  hot  douches 
twice  or  three  times  a  week  will  help  to  remove  the 
exciting   causes.      The    douche    should    be    about    11? 


232  ESSENTIALS  TO  LIFE  AND    HEALTH 

to  118  degrees  F.,  and  continue  twenty  minutes.  Must 
be  taken  lying  on  the  back.  A  board  over  the  bath 
tub,  or  from  a  chair  to  a  wash  tub  will  be  very  con- 
venient. 

Insomnia. 

Inability  to  sleep,  from  disturbances  of  the  cir- 
culation in  the  l)rain;  generally  from  too  much  blood, 
occasionally  from  too  little  in  the  brain.  Some  per- 
sistent cases  are  due  to  the  general  conditions  in  the 
nervous  system.  Dilute  the  blood  with  pure  water, 
aerate  it  with  plenty  of  pure  air.  Practice  panting, 
deep  inspiration  and  expiration.  Bring  the  blood  to 
the  surface  by  such  means  as  will  not  stir  up  the 
nervous  system,  and  yet  tend  to  hold  the  blood  at 
the  surface  for  several  hours.  This  is  best  accom- 
plished with  the  neutral  bath.  It  will  usually  bring 
sleep  the  first  night.  This  is  the  great  remedy  used  to 
help  out  mental  cases  in  some  of  the  leading  institu- 
tions of  the  world.  The  blood  vessels  of  the  skin 
must  be  induced  to  receive  and  hold  a  large  part  of 
the  blood  for  several  hours  at  a  time.  This  gives 
relief  to  the  congested  vessels  of  the  brain  and  relief 
to  the  mental  ailment  follows.  Stop  worrying,  and 
do  this  yourself.  Find  something  pleasant  to  think 
about.  Call  in  a  friend  and  have  a  good  restful  visit 
and  a  good  laughing  spell.  Study  the  law  of  rest 
and  learn  the  meaning  of  Romans  8:28.  Believe  in 
something;  rest  in  creative  power.  Study  botany, 
watch  the  growth  of  plant  life,  and  see  the  power 
of  the  Creator  in  His  works.  Don't  be  too  intense 
and  feel  that  everything  depends  on  you.  The  world 
would  move  right  along  if  you  should  drop  out.    Don't 


TREATMENT  OF  DISEASES  233 

keep  grinding  at  the  mill  until  you  are  utterly  used 
up.  Relax,  let  everything  become  limp,  forget  it, 
He  down  and  die  to  all  your  aspirations,  and  relief 
will  come  in  a  short  time.  Learn  to  trust  in  your 
Creator. 

Neurasthenia. 

Exhaustion  of  the  nervous  system.  A  most  har- 
rowing distressing  condition  of  things.  None  of  the 
muscles  or  glands,  or  brain  cells  or  other  tissues  are 
able  to  fully  perform  their  functions,  because  for  want 
of  nutrition  the  nerves  are  unable  to  keep  control 
and  carry  on  the  work  of  the  system  in  an  orderly 
efficient  manner.  Generally  the  causes  are  over- 
mental  work  and  worry,  lack  of  ph3"sical  labor  and 
want  of  proper  quality  in  food.  This  leads  to  loss 
of  appetite  for  food  and  water,  and  consequent  starva- 
tion of  the  entire  body.  The  remedy  is  change  of 
scenery,  up  into  the  mountains  if  possible,  to  force  the 
breathing;  or  restful  surroundings  in  some  good  San- 
itarium home.  Let  everything  possible  be  done  to 
prevent  care  and  anxiety.  The  patient  must  be  in- 
duced to  place  himself  under  the  care  of  some  faithful 
tried  friend  who  must  create  hopeful,  cheerful  sur- 
roundings, controlling  the  mind  and  feelings  of  the 
patient  as  far  as  possible.  Diaphragm  gymnastics 
should  be  faithfully  executed  for  five  minutes  out  of 
every  hour,  if  possible.  Coax  the  patient  to  drink, 
even  if  he  has  no  appetite  for  water.  Give  him  charged 
water  or  water  flavored  with  something  which  he 
likes.  The  stomach  should  be  coaxed  to  take  nutritious 
foods,  like  rice,  whole  grains  and  eggs,  with  a  full 
meal  of  fruits  at  night,  three  times  a  week.  Lemonade 

i« 


234  ESSENTIALS    TO    LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

and  fruit  juices,  and  fruits  themselves  will  start  the 
appetite  going  all  right  in  a  few  days  if  breathing 
exercises,  are  faithfully  followed.  As  said  in  another 
place,  vibratory  breathing  is  the  greatest  thing  known 
to  stir  up  digestive  activity.  Mechanical  vibration 
to  the  stomach  and  abdomen  is  good  in  most  of  these 
cases.  Begin  very  gently.  Then  take  full  long  deep 
breaths  constantly.  Don't  forget  to  drink,  at  proper 
times.  This  insures  good  flow  of  the  blood  and  car- 
ries the  nutritive  elements  to  the  w^eak  parts.  Diligent 
thorough  chewing  will  be  most  appropriate  exercise 
about  three  times  a  day  and  will  wonderfully  prepare 
the  way  for  digestion  and  assimilation.  Once  these 
principles  are  adopted,  it  will  not  take  all  summer  to 
be  convinced  that  this  is  the  royal  road  to  health. 
There  are  numerous  sanitarium  treatments  that  can 
be  best  applied  by  the  trained  nurse  in  some  good 
institution.  Massage  is  almost  always  in  order  in 
these  cases.  Get  the  patient  where  every  environment 
will  be  as  near  natural  as  possible.  Quiet,  restful, 
cheerful,  enjoyable  circumstances,  with  enough 
changes  to  prevent  monotony,  are  an  absolute  neces- 
sity. Some  of  the  worst  cases  are  brought  on  by 
worry  and  fretting  or  you  may  call  it  mental  anxiety. 
These  cases  sometimes  tax  the  resources  of  the  best 
institutions.  It  will  be  wise  for  those  who  are  be- 
ginning to  get  nervous  to  take  heed  to  the  foregoing 
sus:s:estions  before  thev  reach  the  limit. 

Paralysis. 

This  is  a  symptom  coming  from  several  causes,  the 
most  common  of  which  is  the  bursting  of  a  blood  ves- 
sel or  the  formation  of  clot  in  the  brain.     This  trouble 


TREATMENT  OF  DISEASES  235 

is  known  as  apoplexy.  We  do  not  wish  to  speak  of 
all  the  causes  of  paralysis,  but  we  wish  to  em- 
phasize some  facts  concerning  what  we  are  fully  per- 
suaded is  the  chief  cause  of  this  serious  malady.  The 
condition  in  the  body  which  leads  the  way  to  apoplexy 
is  a  hardening-  of  the  arteries  and  veins  (Arterio  Scler- 
osis). This  is  caused  according  to  some  of  the  best 
authorities  by  calcareous  and  other  mineral  matter 
settling  or  forming  into  the  muscular  cell  structure 
of  the  arteries  and  veins  until  they  lose  their  elasticity 
and  become  somewhat  of  the  consistency  of  eggshell. 
This  hardening  takes  place  chiefly  in  those  blood  ves- 
sels which  are  subjected  to  the  least  motion,  of  which 
those  in  the  brain  present  the  best  examples.  When 
the  pressure  of  excitement,  or  worry,  or  overwork 
brings  to  bear  an  extra  strain  on  the  hardened  artery, 
the  elasticity  being  gone,  the  blood  vessel  bursts, 
thus  forming  a  clot  in  the  brain  Avhich  disturbs  tlie 
functions  of  the  nerve  cells,  and  the  nerves'  going  out 
from  that  part  lose  their  natural  control  and  the  part 
falls  helpless,  in  other  words,  is  paralyzed.  Now  the 
question  is  w'here  does  this  calcareous  matter  come 
from,  and  why  should*  it  settle  in  the  -arteries?  Tire 
greatest  source  of  supply  is  in  the  hard  water  which 
most  of  the  people  are  accustomed  to  drinking.  When 
separated  from  the  water  by  the  digestive  elements 
in  the  body,  it  stops  and  fills  into  those  places  that 
offer  the  least  vital  resistance  to  its  presence.  The 
ferments  in  the  body  most  of  which,  in  our  opinion, 
are  excited  by  the  presence  of  yeast  germs,  leave 
their  products  to  float  in  the  blood  and  weaken  and 
irritate  the  inner  linings  of  the  blood  vessels.  This 
opens  the  way  for  the  earthy  salts  to  deposit  in  those 


236  ESSENTIAI.S    TO    LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

arteries  and  veins  where  there  is  the  least  motion. 

Anything  which  interferes  with  digestion  would  tend 
to  leave  an  irritable  class  of  poisonous  foreign  matter 
in  the  blood. 

If  the  foregoing  are  accepted  as  facts  by  the  reader 
he  will  not  be  long  at  deciding  to  choose  plain,  un- 
stimulating  foods  as  free  from  yeast  and  other  fer- 
ments as  possible,  and  pure  soft  water  to  drink  If 
as  we  have  shown  under  "Hard  Water"  in  Chap.  10. 
people  living  in  soft  water  countries  are  nearly  free 
from  this  serious  disease^  it  ought  to  be  quite  thor- 
oughly demonstrated  that  the  causes  given  above  in 
brief,  should  be  allowed  to  have  their  weight,  and 
wisdom  would  lead  all  people  to  adopt  simple  pure 
ioods  and  water  for  the  sake  of  avoiding  this,  as  well 
as  other  disasters,  that  await  the  indififerent. 

If  everyone  would  adopt  the  plan  of  having  one 
meal  of  fruit,  or  principally  of  fruit,  daily,  this  would 
do  about  all  that  is  necessary  in  connection  with  dis- 
tilled water  to  keep  the  ferments  subdued  and  the 
mineral  matters  in  the  blood  in  a  state  of  solution. 
The  fruit  acids  are  a  most  welcome  and  necessary 
food  product  to  every  organ  and  cell  of  the  body. 

What  to  do  in  a  case  of  apoplectic  stroke  will  be  ap- 
preciated by  all  who  value  natural  procedures.  Take 
excellent  care  of  the  patient  from  the  hour  of  the 
attack,  giving  freely  of  pure  soft  water  and  encourage 
breathing  when  the  patient  is  awake.  Keep  hot  water 
bottles  in  bed  warm  enough  to  keep  the  helpless 
side,  especially  the  foot  and  hand,  warm.  Assist  the 
patient  to  turn  and  move  about  in  bed  as  often  as 
they  show  evidence  of  desire  to  do  so.  Give  plenty  of 
rice  and   milk,  or   rice  and   fruit,  or   flaked   foods  and 


TREATMENT  OF  DISEASES  237 

milk,  or  grain  foods  of  any  kind,  except  yeast  bread, 
and  fruits.  See  that  the  bowels  are  emptied  at  least 
once  a  day,  if  an  enema  has  to  be  used  to  accomplish 
this  end.  Give  light  massage  to  the  spine,  and  light 
vibration  to  stomach  and  abdomen.  Gently  squeeze 
the  flesh  of  the  affected  parts  for  a  few  minutes,  be- 
ginning at  the  body  and  w6rking  toward  the  hand 
or  foot,  with  a  motion  to  draw  the  blood  toward 
the  body.  Do  this  twice  a  day  say  for  three  minutes, 
to  each  member. 

For  about  a  week  after  the  stroke,  there  is  danger 
in  severe  cases,  of  inflammation  of  the  brain  setting  in. 
So  no  general  stirring  up  should  be  given  the  body 
until  this  danger  is  past.  After  eight  or  ten  days 
begin  to  increase  the  massage  work,  extending  from 
the  base  of  the  brain  to  the  toes  and  fingens,  but 
do  not  do  enough  to  tire  the  patient.  Tsvf  minutes 
of  gentle  work  evenly  distributed  will  be  sufficient. 
.  The  force  and  amount  of  this  treatment  may  be 
slowly  increased  from  week  to  week  for  four  or  six 
months,  if  necessary. 

Here  is  the  point  most  generally  overlooked  by  tlie 
medical  man.  The  trouble  being  in  the  brain  the  brain 
cells  must  be  restored  before  they  can  again  take 
control  of  the  paral)'^zed  parts ;  and  while  this  re- 
storation is  going  on,  the  hand  and  arm,  or  leg,  and 
foot  may  simply  perish  of  inaction  before  the  brain 
can  resume  connections  again  with  the  weakened 
])arts.  I  fence  the  necessity  of  keeping  the  weakened 
parts  in  operation,  as  far  as  possible,  by  passive  exer- 
cises, until  the  brain  cells  are  better,  when  the  brain 
mav  and  will   generally    make  connections   again   and 


238  ESSENTIALS    TO    LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

the  patient  enjoy  to  a  fair  degree  the  use  of  the  parts 
that  have  been  in  trouble. 

If  a  well  person  were  to  put  the  arm  in  a  sling 
for  four  or  five  months,  it  would  ever  after  be  a  use- 
less arm,  it  would  simply  perish.  How  important 
then  to  keep  the  afflicted  muscles  and  nerves  in  as 
perfect  a  state  of  nutrition  as  possible  by  artificial 
means  until  the  brain  is  prepared  to  resume  control. 
Of  course  this  must  be  a  gradual  process  of  growth. 

And  here  is  a  very  important  thought.  Just  as  soon 
as  the  patient  has  resumed  a  fair  degree  of  mental 
control,  and  can  get  the  least  action  out  of  the  foot 
or  hand,  even  though  it  be  only  the  slightest  move 
Vif  toe  or  finger,  encourage  this  voluntary  action  for 
a  't€vy, minutes  out  of  every  hour.  The  voluntary  effort 
is  worth,  more  than  any  outside  help  but  the  two  must 
be  united  ir>.  these  cases. 

If  the  patient  I'as  no  power  of  motion  have  him 
think  "open"  and  "shut"  as  you  open  and  shut  the 
hand  for  him  or  "out"  and.  "in"  as  you  move  the  arm 
back  and  forth.  We  have  seen, this  effort  rewarded  in 
a  few  days  effort  with  c^uite  a  degree  of  voluntary  mo- 
tion. 

Especially  should  this  effort  at  voluntary  use  be 
persistent  in  connection  with  massage  and  arm  move- 
ments, for  the  arm  is  so  liable  to  hug  the  body  and  the 
'hand  close  up  tight.  This  is  due  to  the  failure  of  the 
extensor  nerves  and  muscles,  those  on  the  outside 
of  the  arm,  which  permits  the  flexors  to  contract,  as 
they  have  nothing  to  resist  them.  These  should  be 
stretched  many  times  a  day,  by  e;ctending  the  fingers 
and  straightening  the  arm  out  and  putting  it  back 
and  up,  on  a  level  with  the  shoulder.     It  is  a  good 


TREATMENT  OF  DISEASES  2-59 

plan  to  put  a  pillow  under  the  arm  to  keep  the  arm  out. 
Electricity,  first  mild  galvanic  for  a  few  weeks  to  the 
affected  nerves  and  muscles,  then  faradic  gently  in- 
creasing as  the  body  resumes  a  more  normal  degree 
of  strength.  Later  on  when  the  patient  is  able  to 
be  out  and  walk  around,  treatments  with  the  static 
current  will  be  beneficial ;  but  instead  the  faradic  may 
still  be  used  making  it  stronger  as  the  patient  can 
endure  without  feeling  weary  after  or  soon  after  the 
treatment. 

The  faithful,  persistent  nurse  can  follow  these  direc- 
tions carefully,  or  the  intelligent  son  or  daughter  can 
use  them  on  the  afflicted  parent  and  accomplish  re- 
sults that  we  have  not  been  accustomed  to  seeing  ac- 
complished in  these  cases. 

Most  important  of  all,  let  me  repeat  it,  after  the 
patient  has  lived  through  the  first  thirty  days,  don't 
let  the  affected  parts  of  the  body  perish  for  want  of 
use  while  the  brain  is  recovering.  Give  passive  ex- 
ercises, and  mild  currents  of  electricity,  and  see  that 
the  digestion  is  well  regulated. 

Medicines,  except  physic,  are  a  mockery  in  these 
cases.  A  mild  cathartic  may  be  indulged  occasionally 
instead  of  the  enema.  As  the  case  advances  toward 
recovery  it  will  be  important  to  follow  the  instruc- 
tions on  "Constipation." 

Study  these  thoughts  over  and  over  again,  if  you 
are  a  nurse,  until  you  see  clearly  the  mode  of  pro- 
cedure, then  you  can  accomplish  all  for  the  patient 
that  can  be  done  and  much  more  than  has  been  ac- 
complished in  the  past  for  this  class  of  cases,  except 
in  a  few  cases  where  these  suggestions  have  been 
appreciated. 


240  ESSENTIALS    TO    LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

Prolapse  of  Stomach,  Etc. 

Among  women,  we  daily  find  cases  of  severe  pro- 
lapse (falling)  of  the  bowels  and  stomach  and  internal 
organs.  Some  are  curable,  others  incurable,  but  all 
may  get  relief,  in  a  measure  at  least.  The  curable 
cases  are  those  which  have  not  become  too  chronic 
and  are  still  quite  strong  otherwise.  Those  who  have 
been  longer  in  the  way  of  transgression,  until  the 
power  of  digestion  and  assimilation  have  been  thor- 
oughly impaired,  stand  a  chance  of  getting  only  par- 
tial relief,  but  relief  pays  in  such  a  distressing  state 
of  aflfairs.  Don't  blame  Providence.  Surgery  is  some- 
times necessary  for  the  pelvic  organs.  The  remedies 
within  the  reach  of  all  are ;  first  remove  the  pres- 
sure from  above,  by  dispensing  with  waist  bands  and 
corset,  which  had  most  to  do  in  "helping"  to  produce 
the  condition.  Then  put  the  pressure  lower  down,  in 
the  form  of  a  good  elastic  abdominal  supporter  to 
"help"  hold  the  abdomen  up.  Whenever  a  little  lift 
under  the  abdomen  while  standing  gives  a  feeling 
of  rest  and  comfort,  it  is  positive  evidence  that  a 
supporter  is  needed.  Wear  it  just  comfortably  snug. 
Next  hang  all  the  clothing  from  the  shoulders  and 
l)ractice  diaphragm  gymnastics  faithfully.  If  the  case 
is  a  bad  one,  for  two  or  three  months,  spend  much  time 
in  horizontal  repose  with  hips  elevated.  Give  the 
stomach  rest  from  all  iiniiecessar\-  l)ur(lens  both  ex- 
ternally and  internally.  Dry  foods  well  chewed,  and 
fruits  well  insalivated,  with  water  taken  often  in  small 
quantities  is  best.  Suspend  no  skirts  or  other  garments 
from  the  waist  line.  Some  exercises  lying  on  the 
back  are  excellent.  I^ie  on  the  back  with  the  body 
and    limbs    extended    straight;   lift    first   one    foot   and 


TREATMENT  OF  DISEASES  241 

limb  and  then  the  other,  keeping  them  extended.  Raise 
the  limb  slowly  and  lower  it  slowly.  Do  not  rush 
this  exercise.  At  first  lift  the  foot  eight  or  ten  inches 
from  the  couch.  Gradually  increase  until  it  can  be 
lifted  almost  perpendicularly.  During  the  latter  part 
of  each  exercise,  lift  the  head  from  the  pillow  each 
time  the  foot  is  lifted.  Be  careful  that  these  move- 
ments are  made  deliberately,  and  that  the  downward 
motion  is  as  even  and  steady  as  the  upward.  Do  not 
let  the  foot  drop.  Take  these  exercises  eight  or 
ten  minutes  at  a  time^  three  or  four  times  a  day.  Go 
slow  at  first  and  gradually  increase  extent  and  rate 
of  movement.  As  you  grow  stronger  you  may  occa- 
sionally lift  both  feet  and  the  head  at  the  same  time. 
Then  add  another  movement ;  resting  the  weight  on 
the  heels  and  shoulders,  lift  the  body  free  from  the 
couch,  lowering  it  slowly  again.  Do  this  two  or  three 
times  a  minute.  Then  a  little  later  as  you  grow 
stronger  rise  to  a  sitting  posture  without  helping  with 
the  hands  or  elbows.  Do  not  hurry  these  exercises 
and  strain  yourself  and  become  discouraged.  They 
are  a  powerful  means  if  gradually  followed  to 
strenghten  the  weak  muscles  of  the  abdomen.  They 
ought  to  be  practiced  by  multitudes  who  are  not  yet 
sick  in  bed. 

Painful  Menstruation. 

This  is  usually  a  congestive  difficulty.  With  rare 
exceptions  it  will  yield  quickly  to  water  drinking  and 
pure  food.  Let  the  patient  follow  carefully  the  in- 
structions given  in  this  book  on  water  drinking.  Take- 
two  or  three  salt  glows  per  week.  .\X  the  time  of  the 
trnuble   drink   an   extra   amount  of  water  or  hot   herl> 


242         ESSENTIALS    TO     LIFE     AND    HEALTH 

tea,  just  a  day  or  so  in  advance;  and  take  a  large  hot 
enema  just  as  it  begins.  A  hot  water  bag  continuously 
just  below  the  small  of  the  back,  and  a  cold  one  for  a 
few  minutes  at  a  time  low  down  in  front  will  check  the 
pain  very  quickly.  Keep  the  body  and  limbs  well 
clothed  during  the  cool  season.  We  have  seen  awful 
cases  of  suffering  pass  away  in  three  months  when 
nothing  but  water  drinking,  constipation,  breathing 
and  clothing  were  attended  to  faithfully.  It  is  sim- 
ply a  question  of  keeping  the  blood  from  congesting 
in  the  plastic  tissues.  In  a  very  few  cases  there  is 
imperforate  hymen.  This  would  call  for  a  little  simple 
surgery. 

Blood  Poisoning. 

A  most  excellent  illustration  of  how  the  body  pre- 
pares to  defend  itself  is  seen  in  cases  where  persons 
have  carried  fever  sores  or  other  indolent  ulcers  for 
years.  The  individual  bears  the  stamp  of  anemia  and 
exhaustion  but  still  he  lives.  If  a  well  person  by  any 
means  becomes  inoculated  with  virus  from  one  of  these 
sores,  he  will  probably  die  in  a  few  days  at  most. 
He  may  have  been  scratched  only  with  a  pin  that 
was  infected.  If  he  does  not  die  he  will  be  an  ex- 
ceedingly sick  man  just  because  his  body  was  not 
prepared  to  deal  with  the  poison.  We  say  that  the 
newly  infected  body  is  surprised  and  overwhelmed 
before  it  can  get  ready  for  the  battle  with  death. 

The  best  remedy  for  blood  poisoning  is  long  con- 
tinued applications  of  hot  water,  changed  occasionally 
to  ice  cold.  If  possible  the  part  afflicted  should  be 
immersed  in  water  as  hot  as  can  be  borne  daily  and 
continuously    with    changes   to   cold   once    in   twenty 


TREATMENT  OF  DISEASES  243 

minutes  until  relief  comes.  It  is  well  to  add  some 
good  germicide  to  the  water  or  a  strong  antiseptic 
like  salt.     It  will  help  the  mind  of  the  patient  at  least. 

Burns. 

Bad  burns  should  be  immersed,  if  possible,  in  tepid 
water  for  several  hours.  After  which  they  may  be 
covered  with  a  dressing  of  equal  parts  lime  water  and 
linseed  oil  (called  carron  oil),  or  carbolated  vaseline, 
10  drops  to  the  oz.,  spread  on  absorbent  lint  and  laid 
over  the  burn.  Great  care  should  be  taken  to  keep 
the  air  from  the  burn  until  the  new  skin  has  begun 
to  form.  If  suppuration  takes  place  disinfect  with 
Peroxide  of  Hydrogen. 

If  the  wound  cannot  well  be  immersed,  cleanse  it 
with  water  by  pouring  or  spraying  and  then  dust 
over  with  a  thick  coating  of  common  baking  soda. 
This  has  a  reputation  for  allaying  the  smarting.  Use 
this  for  the  first  day  then  apply  one  of  the  dressings 
suggested  above. 

Some  extensive  burns  are  treated  successfully  b} 
immersion  in  tepid  water  for  several  weeks.  Of  course 
this  can  be  done  only  in  a  good  institution  with  special 
facilities. 

Wounds. 

Clean  thoroughly  with  diluted  peroxide  of  hydrogen. 
Or,  a  little  spirits  of  turpentine  will  do.  But  it  is  by 
no  means  as  good  as  the  peroxide.  Then  draw  the 
wound  together  with  some  surgical  adhesive  strips. 
Every  family  should  keep  a  spool  of  this  in  tlie  house. 
Broad,  deep  wounds  will  need  a  few  stitches.  Then 
if  it  is  a  bad  wound  cover  over  with  absorbent  cotton 


244  ESSENTIALS    TO    LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

and  bandage  so  as  to  protect.  In  small  cuts  a  bandage 
of  cloth  over  the  surgical  strip  is  all  that  is  necessary. 
If  there  is  serious  bleeding  in  the  hand  or  foot  or 
limb,  elevate  the  part  and  bind  to  hold  the  blood  back 
until  the  surgeon  arrives. 

To  protect  a  cut  or  laceration  on  the  back  of  the 
hand  or  any  broad  surface  of  the  body,  cleanse  the 
wound  thoroughly  as  suggested,  draw  together  with 
some  narrow  pieces  of  surgical  strip,  cover  with  a 
very  thin  gauze  covering  of  absorbent  cotton  and 
then  pour  over  it  all  a  thin  coating  of  collodian  cut 
with  ether.  Let  it  dry  and  put  on  another  thin  coat. 
They  call  this  liquid  court  plaster.  In  brief,  the  cure 
for  wounds  is  a  cleansing  protection  and  rest. 

If  proud  flesh  develops  it  is  simply  an  overgrowth  of 
cells  in  the  effort  of  nature  to  heal  a  wound.  There 
is  nothing  dangerous  about  it,  but  the  wound  will  be 
a  long  time  healing  unless  it  is  removed.  Burnt  alum 
is  all  that  is  necessary.  Pulverize  and  spread  a  thick 
coat  over  the  wound.  Hold  in  place  with  a  bandage 
over  night.  One  or  two  applications  will  generally 
remove  it  and  the  wound  will  then  heal  rapidlv. 

Sprains  and  Bruises. 

It  is  usually  the  ankle  or  wrist  that  is  in  troul)le. 
Provide  two  buckets  of  water,  one  as  hot  as  you  can 
bear,  the  other  as  cold  as  you  can  get.  Dip  the  ])art 
in  hot  water  for  five  minutes  and  then  in  cold  water 
for  one.  After  three  or  four  changes  begin  to  apply 
gentle  massage  over  the  sprain  working  backward  al- 
ways, toward  the  heart.  After  treating  it  for  one  hour, 
keeping  the  hot  water  hot  and  the  cold  water  cold, 
put   it   in   a  heating  compress  for  the  night.     Repeat 


TREATMENT  OF  DISEASES  245 

mornings  and  evenings  for  a  day  or  two;  and  a  sprain 
which  otherwise  would  have  lasted  six  weeks,  and 
perhaps  a  lifetime,  will  be  entirely  well.  Bruises  thor- 
oughly treated  in  this  manner  do  not  become  dis- 
colored to  any  extent.  The  foregoing  statements  will 
be  true  of  every  case  where  the  ligaments  are  not 
torn.  If  the  foot  or  wrist  pulls  to  one  side,  there  is  a 
torn  ligament  or  a  bone  out  of  place.  This  will  demand 
good  surgical  skill  in  bandaging  and  treatment. 

If  heat  does  not  relieve  the  pain  in  an  ordinary 
sprain  use  an  ice  pack  for  half  an  hour  or  ice  water; 
then  heat  for  five  minutes ;  then  ice  again  until  the 
pain  subsides.  You  will  find  once  in  a  while  a  case 
that  will  require  more  cold  and  very  little  heat.  Use 
the  all  night  heating  compress  as  in  the  other  case. 
Liniments,  lotions,  washes  are  all  of  no  consequence 
whatever  as  compared  with  these  applications  of  al- 
ternate heat  and  cold.  The  point  to  be  won  is  to 
prevent  the  blood  from  settling.  This  method  is  so 
far  superior  to  the  old  six  weeks  to  three  months 
method  by  dry  bandaging  the  part,  and  doping  the 
patient  with  morphine,  that  it  is  not  to  be  compared 
with  it  in  any  w^ay. 

Chills  and  Chilliness. 

Chills  and  chilliness  may  be  quickly  relieved  by 
drinking  one  or  two  cups  of  hot  drink  and  applying 
heat  to  the  back  between  the  shoulders.  No  matter 
where  else  you  put  heat,  put  it  at  this  point  and  relief 
will  come  at  once.  If  you  do  not  have  heat  at  hand 
work  the  spine  from  the  neck  to  the  small  of  the 
back,  going  in  as  deeply  as  you  can  with  the  ends  of 
the  fingers  without  hurting  the  patient  seriously.  Beat 


246         ESSENTIALS    TO     LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

with  the  edge  of  the  hand;  tap  with  the  tips  of  the 
fingers,  slap  and  spat  the  whole  back.  Finish  by  deep 
stroking  crosswise  of  the  back  with  both  palms,  keci)- 
ing  tiie  hands  close  together  and  drawing  them  in 
opposite  directions  each  move.  These  movements 
will  bring  relief  and  comfort  in  five  minutes. 

Note. — This  is  not  intended  as  a  cure  for  chills  and 
fever,  though  it  will  help  to  give  relief. 

Ague,  Chills  and  Fever. 

This  disease  if  taken  at  once  will  yield  quickest  to 
a  succession  of  thorough  sweatings  taken  each  time 
about  half  to  three  quarters  of  an  hour  before  the  chill 
is  due  and  continued  each  time  for  one  to  two  hours. 
The  patient  will  feel  better  after  each  sweat.  Don't 
forget  that  abundance  of  herb  tea  or  hot  lemonade  are 
all  important.  After  six  or  eight  sweats  take  one  six 
to  ten  grain  dose  of  quinine.  This  is  almost  a  sure 
cure  for  recent  cases.  In  chronic  cases  where  the 
white  blood  corpuscles  have  become  enfeebled  and 
greatly  reduced  in  number,  cold  mitten  frictions  given 
some  hours  before  the  chill  is  expected  and  an  hour 
or  two  after  it  has  passed  and  repeated  three  or  four 
times  a  day  for  a  few  days  will  soon  conquer  the 
difificulty.  Should  be  graduated  to  the  feebler  patients. 
This  procedure  belongs  to  the  Father  Kneipp  class 
of  cures.  This  treatment  has  great  merit  in  a  lar^L^e 
class  of  cases,  but  it  is  badly  abused  when  one  uses  it 
for  the  cure  of  all  ailments. 

Typhoid  Fever. 

The  Typhoid  Bacillus  is  taken  in  through  a  contami- 
nated water  supply,  generally  some  well  near  a  barn- 


TREATMENT  OF  DISEASES  247 

yard  or  cesspool,  or  by  means  of  insect  infections  of 
food.  Flies  which  have  visited  the  excrementitioiis 
waste  from  fever  patients  convey  this  to  the  foods 
that  are  not  protected.  One  fly  is  capable  of  doing  this 
infection  thoroughly.  When  first  taken  in  they  soon 
find  their  way  into  the  blood.  This  causes  the  gen- 
eral disturbance,  that  for  three  or  four  days  precedes 
the  full  development  of  the  disease,  when  they  have 
settled  in  Pyers  glands  in  the  small  intestines.  Here 
they  multiply  rapidly  and  generate  the  poison  which 
causes  the  high  temperatures.  It  is  the  opinion  of 
the  writer  that  if  taken  before  the  bacillus  have  lodged 
in  the  intestine  they  could  be  thrown  out  of  the  system 
by  vigorous  water  drinking  and  sweating  and  cold 
mitten  frictions.  But  as  the  disease  is  not  usually 
recognized  till  after  this  stage  is  reached  the  only 
thing  that  can  be  done  is  to  combat  the  growth  and 
development  of  the  germs  in  the  intestines.  This 
is  best  done  by  the  free  use  of  fruits  and  fruit  juices 
and  water  drinking,  cold  or  hot  as  best  suits  the 
patient,  and  the  use  of  ice  over  the  abdomen  whenexer 
the  temperature  rises  above  102  or  103  degrees.  Cold 
enemas  also  should  be  given  a  pint  at  a  time.  If  there 
is  constipation  the  bowels  should  be  thoroughly 
cleansed  with  a  full  warm  soap  and  water  enema  daily. 
Cool  sponging  of  the  patient  several  times  daily  will 
give  great  relief.  Use  cold  water,  even  with  ice  in  ii. 
whenever  the  temperature  is  above  102  degrees  1'. 
When  it  runs  to  103  give  the  cold  enema  and  apply 
an  ice  poultice  made  by  putting  broken  ice  between 
two  thicknesses  of  Turkish  towel  and  laying  it  oxer 
the  entire  abdomen  for  twenty  minutes  at  a  time. 
Replace  this  with  a  hot  fomentation  for  three  or  four 


248  ESSENTIALyS    TO    I^IFE     AND    HEALTH 

minutes.  Then  apply  the  ice  again.  Repeat  till  the 
temperature  is  lowered  from  one  to  three  degrees. 
Little  danger  need  be  anticipated  if  the  temperature 
is  kept  down  to  101  or  102  degrees  most  of  the  time. 
Feed  no  milk  or  animal  products  as  they  form  the 
best  media  for  the  growth  of  the  germs,  while  the 
fruit  juices,  orange,  apple,  cherry,  berry  juices  of  all 
kinds,  lemonade,  with  little  or  no  sugar,  (better  none 
in  this  case),  and  grape  juice  contain  sufficient  nour- 
ishment, and  act  as  germicides  helping  to  destroy 
and  hinder  their  growth.  The  writer  has  seen  a  typhoid 
patient  that  had  been  delirious  for  forty  days  and  pro- 
nounced hopeless  by  the  attending  physician,  fully 
restored  to  clearness  of  mind  in  less  than  a  week  by 
a  change  from  milk  to  pure  apple  juice,  and  she  lived. 
No  drugs  are  needed.  They  may  satisfy  the  minds 
of  the  family  but  will  do  the  patient  no  good  unless  he 
is  crying  for  medicine,  when  a  few  bread  pills  or  a 
little  sugar  of  milk  or  tartaric  acid  or  a  little  salt  and 
water,  anything  to  satisfy  the  mind  that  medicine 
is  being  used,  may  be  given.  This  course  followed 
faithfully  will  usually  see  the  breaking  up  of  the  dis- 
ease about  the  seventeenth  to  the  twentieth  day,  with- 
out any  bowel  perforations  which  really  constitute 
the  only  grave  danger  in  these  cases.  Be  careful  when 
the  disease  turns  not  to  give  the  patient  any  solid 
foods  for  eight  to  ten  days.  Use  only  gruels,  soups, 
and  porridges  with  a  little  sterilized  cream  until  all 
danger  is  past.  All  coarse  foods  should  be  avoided 
for  at  least  two  weeks. 

Treated   in   this   manner   typhoid   loses   most   of   its 
terrors.    There  are  physicians  and  nurses  who  under- 


TREATMENT  OF  DISEASES  249 

Stand  this  method.    They  are  the  only  ones  who  ought 
to  be  permitted  to  treat  this  disease. 

Contagious  Diseases. 

Chickenpox,  scarlet  fever,  measles,  mumps  and 
whooping  cough  are  almost  sure  to  come  to  every  one 
sooner  or  later.  The  best  remedies  are  abundance  of 
mucilaginous  drinks,  and  fruit  juices,  and  warm  or 
cold  packs  as  you  may  prefer.  Flax  seed  with  lemon 
juice  and  barley  or  rice  water  with  the  less  acid  fruit 
juices,  or  fruit  juices  alone,  like  unfermented  grape 
juice,  and  fresh  cider  made  from  clean  sound  fruit 
are  the  best  things  to  put  in  the  body  while  these 
diseases  last.  The  point  is  to  keep  the  tissue  cells  so 
plentifully  supplied  with  fluid  that  they  can  easily 
wash  out  the  specific  poisons. 

In  the  eruptive  forms,  packs  make  the  skin  active 
and  bring  the  rash  to  the  surface.  As  soon  as  the 
eruption  is  well  out  .^r  as  soon  as  the  mumps  begin 
to  improve  leave  out  the  packs.  Be  sensible  enough 
in  the  care  of  all  these  cases  to  keep  the  patient  from 
exposure  to  sudden  changes  until  they  are  well  on 
the  way  to  recovery. 

Whooping  Cough. 

Keep  the  throat  and  upper  chest  well  oiled,  and 
protected  all  day  with  a  heavy  flannel  bandage  or 
pad  cut  to  fit;  Alboline  is  best,  but  any  clean  oil  will 
do.  Morning  and  evening  give  a  good  thorough  fo- 
mentation over  these  parts  for  fifteen  minutes  alter- 
nated every  five  minutes  with  very  cold  cloths.  Dur- 
ing the  night  wear  the  heating  compress.  "Saleratus 
water  half  a  teaspoonful  to  a  large  teacupful  of  wa- 

17 


250  ESSENTIALS    TO    LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

ter"  sweetened  with  honey  and  flavored  with  anything 
the  patient  likes,  drank  freely  just  before  the  parox- 
ysms, will  help  greatly  to  loosen  the  cough.  This 
trouble  is  liable  to  hang  on  so  long  that  it  is  not  best 
to  soak  the  patient  every  day  in  a  pack  or  bath.  Two 
packs  or  regular  warm  baths  per  week,  with  thorougli 
dry  Turkish  mitten  friction  daily  all  over  the  body, 
followed  by  an  oil  rub  wall  in  most  casts  answer  all 
purposes  toward  the  end  to  be  attained,  that  is,  keeping 
thorough  elimination  through  the  skin.  If  the  patient 
is  old  enough  to  understand  have  him  resist  the  incli- 
nation to  cough  all  he  possibly  can. 

Small  Pox. 

Nobody  ought  to  have  small  pox  any  more  in  civil- 
ized lands.  Vaccination  is  a  sufficient  preventive,  in 
some  cases  making  one  immune  for  years,  in  other 
cases  not  so  long.  One  ought  to  be  vaccinated  with 
bovine  virus  once  in  ten  or  twelve  years  if  they  arc 
liable  to  be  exposed  to  this  severe  malady.  But  there 
is  danger  in  vaccination  unless  one  knows  the  source 
of  the  virus  he  is  using. 

The  remedies  suggested  for  other  eruptive  diseases 
are  equally  applicable  to  this.  The  addition  of  fre- 
quent cool  sponging  during  the  time  the  fever  is  high 
should  not  be  neglected.  All  we  have  said  about  water 
drinking  and  the  use  of  fruit  juices  applies  to  this 
case.  Don't  be  afraid  that  packs  will  drive  the  eru])- 
tion  in.     They  do  just  the  opposite. 

Don't  be  afraid  of  ventilation.  The  heating  com- 
press will  do  as  much  as  anything  to  keep  the  face 
from   pitting  if  cut  and  fitted  and  kept  in  place  con- 


TREATMENT  OF  DISEASES  251 

« 

stantly,  removing  once  an  hour  or  two  and  renewing 
for  cleanliness. 

The  awful  itching  may  be  allayed  by  a  wash  of 
carbolic  acid,  one  ounce,  glycerine  one  half  pint,  pure 
water  one  quart.  Shake  well  before  using  and  apply 
three  or  four  times  a  day  or  as  often  as  the  itching 
becomes  troublesome. 

Whatever  else  is  done  don.'t  neglect  these  simple 
remedies.  It  is  fortunate  for  humanity  that  these  con- 
tagious diseases  seldom  come  to  one  the  second  time. 

Felons. 

Abort  them  by  holding  the  finger  in  water  as  hot  as 
can  be  borne  for  about  two  hours.  A  good  wav  is  to 
set  a  cup  of  cold  water  on  the  stove  and  hold  the  finger 
in  it  until  it  becomes  unbearably  hot.  Repeat  two  or 
three  times  in  succession.  This,  followed  with  an  all 
night  heating  comprtss,  may  safely  be  called  a  sure 
cure,  if  taken  the  first  evening  after  the  pain  begins. 

Eczema  and  Psoriasis. 

These  will  yield  quite  generally  to  a  grain  and  fruit 
diet  with  plenty  of  water.  Flesh  and  animal  fats 
must  be  laid  aside  and  the  skin  kept  clean  with  good 
soap.  An  excellent  lotion  to  allay  irritation  in  almost 
every  case  is  made  of : 

2  drams   Boro-glyceridc 

1  dram  Carbolic  Acid, 

10  gr.  Salycilic  Acid, 

10  oz.  Distilled  Water. 
Dissolve  together  in   a   warm   place,  shake  and  apply 
and   let   it   dry  on.      Very   effective.     The  old   notion 
that   water  must  not  be  used  in   Fczcnia  is  about   a*^ 


252  ESSENTIALS    TO    LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

• 
fallacious  as  the  old  dead  and  gone  notion  that  water 

is  dangerous  in  fevers.  Some  cases  get  well  right  along 

under  long  continued  applications  of  hot  water  with 

just  enough  cold  to  balance  up  the  circulation.    Some 

bad  cases  need  only  good  soap  and  hot  water  used 

ifreely  and  often  with  change  of  diet,  to  effect  a  cure. 

Chafing  and  Itching. 

The  best  remedy  for  chafing  and  itching  about  the 
anus  and  vagina  is  hot  and  cold  bathing  with  a  good 
rosin  laundry  soap.  They  do  not  dare  to  put  deleterious 
material  in  soaps  that  are  used  where  long  exposure 
to  the  skin  is  necessary  as  in  laundry  work.  These 
soaps  are  excellent  germicides  for  the  skin.  Use  the 
hot  water  at  night  and  cold  water  in  the  morning. 
Pat  dry  with  a  fluffy  towel  and  powder  with  borated 
talcum. 

Small  Boils  and  Pustules. 

These  will  yield  quickly  to  applications  of  water 
as  hot  as  can  possibly  be  borne,  for  thirty  to  sixty 
minutes  (with  large  boils  continue  longer),  followed 
by  a  continuous  compress  moistened  with  a  thin  paste 
of  boric  acid  and  water.  Nothing  better.  Use  the  hot 
applications  twice  daily,  following  in  each  case  with 
the  acid  till  the  cure  is  effected.  You  will  begin  to 
see  results  the  first  day. 

Comedo,  or  Black-heads  and  Pimples. 

This  unsightly,  distressing  condition  of  the  face  can 
be  fully  relieved  by  oiling  the  face  with  alboline,  or 
any  fine  oil,  and  after  twenty  or  thirty  minutes  squeez- 
ing the  blackheads  all  out.     Then  use  hot  water  and 


TREATMENT  OF  DISEASES  253 

i>oocl  laundry  soap,  or  some  toilet  soap  that  you  know 
will  not  injure  the  skin,  with  a  good  Turkish  towel 
mitten.  L'se  the  water  and  soap  as  hot  as  you  can 
bear  it,  scrubbing  (|uite  vigorously  for  four  or  five 
minutes.  Then  change  to  very  cold  water  for  a  min- 
ute. Repeat  three  times  until  you  have  scrubbed  the 
skin  as  much  as  it  will  bear.  Do  this  three  times  a 
week.  Meantime  always  bathe  the  face  in  first  hot 
and  then  cold  water. 

Be  sure  to  avoid  fried  foods  and  all  animal  fats.  It 
will  take  three  to  six  weeks  of  this  kind  of  treatment 
to  bring  thorough  results.  There  is  no  drug  that 
will  do  any  good  taken  internally.  The  cleaner  and 
purer  the  food  and  water,  the  less  persistent  will  be 
this  class  of  trouble.  A  saturated  solution  of  boric 
acid  applied  at  the  close  of  the  treatment  and  left  to 
dry  on,  will  help  to  dry  up  the  pimples. 

Old  Sores,  Salt  Rheum,  or  Weeping  Eczma, 
and  Varicose  Ulcers. 

These,  need  continuous  applications  of  hot  water, 
hot  as  can  be  borne  for  an  hour  at  a  time,  two  or  three 
times  dail}^  and  between  spells,  a  heating  compress 
wrung  out  of  a  solution  of  Peroxide  of  Hydrogen,  If 
the  ooze  does  not  cease  at  once  or  in  a  few  days  use  a 
saturated  solution  of  Boric  Acid  for  the  all  night  com- 
press. The  long  continued  heat  is  the  all  important 
thing  and  it  must  be  kept  up  to  the  highest  point 
endural)lc.  When  after  two  or  three  weeks  the  pro- 
cess of  healing  has  been  well  begun,  the  use  of  al- 
ternation of  cold  water  with  the  heat,  changing  every 
five  minutes,  is  in  order.  Lower  the  temperature 
of  the  cold  water  till  you  have  ice  in  it  after  a  week 


254         ESSCMTIAfvS    TO    LIFE    AND    HEAIyTH 

or  so.  The  writer  has  seen  old  varicose  ulcers  as 
broad  as  a  teac.up,an.d  half  an  inch  deep  get  well  in 
six  weeks'  tirn^v  ..Alternations  of  heat  and  cold  should 
be  used  twice  or  three  times  a  week  for  several  months 
after  healing  to  kgep  the  circulation  good  and  prevent 
the  tissue  from  bf-eaking  down  again. 

To  Prevent  the  Hair  from  Falling. 

Go  bareheaded  in  the  open  sunlight  for  a  while 
each  day,  with  ^n\^.  a  fore-piece  to  protect  the  eyes, 
or  with  a  hat, without  a  crown,  until  your  head  gets 
used  to  the  light,  then  you  may  wear  your  crownless 
hat  all  day.  .The  greatest  cause,  probably,  of  falling 
hair  is  wearing  unventilated  hats.  The  scalp  is  kept 
too  close.  Go.ngestion  of  the  brain  also  may  be  named 
as  a  cause,  and  a  severe  fit  of  sickness  will  sometimes 
produce  temporary  baldness.  Quit  worrying  and  let 
your  head  cool  off  on  the  inside.  Sunlight,  and  mas- 
Sage  in  the:  fbllowing  manner  are  among  the  best 
remedies.  Hold  the  fingers  half  shut  in  such  a  position 
that  the  back  of.  the  nails  may  be  used  in  rubbing  the 
scalp.  Then  give  a  vigorous  massage  until  the  scalp 
is  all  aglow,  ■using .  only  cold  water  to  wet  the  roots 
qi  the  hair.  .A_  dozen  treatments  of  this  kind  for  five 
to  seven  minute?  vviH  prevent  falling,  unless  there  are 
parasites  at  the  root,  and  a  germicide  is  needed.  Mer- 
curial ointment  ;•  or  Bichloride  of  Mercurv,  about  one 
grain  to  two- ounces  of. .water,  well  rubbed  into  the 
scalp,  is  the  best  thing  for  parasites  in  such  a  case. 
But  don't  forfjet.  that: these  are  deadly  poisons,  espe- 
cially the  last-  na.med. 


TREATMENT  OF  DISEASES  255 

Diseases  Due  to  Damp  Beds. 

We  speak  of  damp  beds  here  to  emphasize  the  im- 
portance of  shutting  out  this  frequent  cause  of  serious 
disease.  In  damp  weather  there  are  very  few  houses 
where  the  beds  do  not  become  damp.  This  is  espe- 
cially true  on  the  ground  Hoor.  Now,  if  the  weather 
be  at  all  cool  under  such  circumstances  there  will 
be  a  burden  imposed  on  the  vitality  of  those  who  oc- 
cupy such  beds  that  will  prove  both  uncomfortable 
and  damaging.  Whenever  one  retires  to  shiver  and 
chill  and  goes  to  sleep  after  awhile  to  wake  and  find 
the  adjacent  parts  of  the  bed  feel  cold  and  chilly  to 
the  hand  or  foot,  that  is  a  damp  bed.  It  is  a  wicked 
loss  of  vitality  to  thus  attempt  night  after  night  to 
dry  out  a  damp  bed.  Many  persons  have  had  their 
vitality  sapped  and  undermined  by  this  cause  until 
they  have  become  victims  of  la  grippe,  catarrh,  pneu- 
monia, consumption,  or  tuberculosis.  There  is  no  rest 
or  recuperation  in  such  a  bed.  The  remedy  is  to  dry 
out  the  bedding  before  the  fireplace  or  stove  about 
twice  a  week.  Always  dry  out  the  spare  bed  when 
your  best  friend  comes  to  stay  all  night  with  you. 

Sore  Eyes. 

Hot  fomentations  with  a  soft  sponge  squeezed  out 
of  water  as  hot  as  can  be  borne,  kept  up  for  a  long 
time  and  followed  with  a  few  drops  of  saturated 
aqueous  solution  of  boric  acid  in  the  eye,  is  a  most 
excellent  remedy  for  nearly  all  soreness  of  the  eyes. 
If  the  eyes  "feel  full  of  sticks  and  slivers"  put  a  drop 
or  so  of  glycerine,  diluted  with  twice  as  much  water, 
into  each  eye  after  the  fomentation  process.  It  will 
cause  copious  weeping  and  take  away  the  congestion. 


256  ESSENTIALS    TO    LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

Repeat  in  an  hour  if  necessary.  This  seems,  when 
first  tried  like  a  severe  remedy,  but  it  will  do  the  work 
without  injury. 

Old  Age. 

Especially  is  it  necessary  that  aged  people  drink 
abundantly  of  pure  water,  eat  a  moderate  amount  of 
simple  food,  cast  away  all  anxiety  and  take  a  moderate 
amount  of  exercise  daily.  We  have  seen  cases  that 
seemed  just  ready  to  collapse,  renew  their  age  and 
begin  to  look  up  and  plan  to  live  and  go  for  several 
years  giving  to  their  friends  the  ripened  experience 
of  a  life  of  usefulness ;  when,  had  not  these  two  or  three 
simple  hygienic  suggestions  been  followed,  they  would 
have  sunk  into  an  untimely  grave  at  the  age  of  fifty- 
five  or  sixty.  Mental  culture  and  training  keeps  old 
age  fresh  and  joyous. 

Gall  Stones. 

These  are  the  result  of  nasal  catarrh  which  has 
worked  its  way  downward  into  the  stomach  and  bowel, 
and  thence  back  through  the  gall  duct  into  the  liver. 
This  is  the  declaration,  in  substance,  of  some  very 
high  authorities.  They  are  composed  of  a  gummy 
resinous  substance  called  Cholosterine ;  they  will  burn 
like  tar.  Everyone  of  them  when  dry  shows  the  hol- 
low in  the  center  where  the  pledget  of  mucous  was, 
around  which  it  formed.  They  are  the  cause  of  many 
serious  surgical  operations.  No  more  excruciatingly 
painful  trouble  comes  to  the  body  than  the  passing 
of  gall  stones. 

The  best  thing  to  prevent  their  forming  is  the 
use  of  pun.',  soft  or  distilled  water.     Fruit  diet  stands 


TREATMENT  OF  DISEASES  257 

next.  Everything  to  keep  the  bile  thin  and  prevent 
it  from  hardening.  Cure  the  catarrh  and  the  cause 
will  be  removed.  They  are  scarcely  known  in  soft 
water  countries.  When  gall  stones  are  passing  through 
the  duct  the  agony  is  most  intense.  This  is  one  occa- 
sion when  we  may  legitimately  use  morphine  or 
chloroform.  A  hypodermic  of  morphine  and  the  use 
of  chloroform  just  enough  to  keep  the  patient  dazed, 
but  not  enough  to  make  him  fully  unconscious,  will 
relax  the  entire  body,  the  gall  ducts  with  the  rest,  and 
ihe  pressure  of  fluid  in  the  gall  bladder  will  force 
the  stone  along.  Surgery  is  sometimes  necessary, 
but  the  method  outlined  should  be  faithfully  tried. 
Call  the  physician  of  most  experience  in  such  cases. 
Don't  use  chloroform  unless  you  have  been  trained 
to  know  how  to  use  it.  Great  caution  is  needed  lest 
the  heart  should  be  in  trouble  and  the  chloroform  prove 
fatal.     No  untrained  layman  should  fool  with  it. 

If  the  patient  could  be  kept  in  a  bath  at  100  to  103 
degrees  for  two  hours  or  more,  you  might  get  the 
^ame  relaxation,  but  you  would  find  the  extreme  of 
Iieat  would  be  fully  as  taxing  to  the  system  as  the 
"ther  remedy  suggested,  if  not  more  so.  If  you  have 
had  gall  stones  you  had  better  adopt  the  distilled 
water  and  take  about  eight  or  ten  glasses  a  day  the 
rest  of  your  life  or  at  least  for  two  or  three  years. 

Deep  Vibration  at  the  pit  of  the  stomach  is  a  most 
effective  means  of  working  out  the  stones  before  they 
become  large,  and  a  great  aid  in  the  cure  of  catarrh 
of  the  liver  which  is  the  immediate  cause  of  gall  stones. 
This  can  ))(.■  drmo  best   hv  massace  or  rr  xibrator. 


258  ESSENTIALS    TO    LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

Reflex  Disturbances. 

Reflex  means  almost  literally  "bent  back."  There 
are  pains  and  functional  disturbances  in  the  brain  and 
stomach  that  come  from  diseases  of  the  sexual  or- 
gans. The  writer  once  knew  a  woman  to  starve  to 
death  through  refusal  of  the  stomach  to  take  and 
retain  food.  The  cause  was  a  cystic  ovarian  tumor. 
The  autopsy  showed  every  organ  in  the  body  healthy 
but  that  diseased  ovary.  It  was  the  same  kind  of 
disturbance  as  morning  sickness  in  pregnancy  only 
more  exaggerated.  A  little  surgery  would  have  saved 
that  life.  Pain  in  the  head  and  confusion  of  mind 
may  come  from  cold  feet  and  stomach  trouble.  There 
are  many  such  cases. 

Headaches. 

These  are  classified  under  various  heads,  as  sick, 
nervous,  congestive,  and  sympathetic.  Sick  headache 
is  usually  accompanied  by  severe  sickness  at  the  stom- 
ach and  vomiting.  The  best  remedy  is  to  drink  hot 
fluids  until  the  stomach  is  thoroughly  cleansed  out, 
and  take  a  big  hot  soap  and  water  enema.  These  head- 
aches are  caused  by  pork  eating  and  the  free  use  of 
animal  fats,  and  tea  and  cofifee.  Meats  of  any  kind 
should  be  used  very  sparingly  or  not  at  all.  Eating 
too  freely  of  nuts  and  peas  and  beans  will  induce  the 
trouble.  If  vomiting  continues  after  the  stomach  is 
empty  swallow  bits  of  ice  the  size  of  a  bean  quite 
rapidly  until  a  tablespoonful  has  been  taken.  Repeat 
if  necessary.  This  is  a  sovereign  remedy  for  retching 
after  the  stomach  is  empty. 

A  nervous  headache  comes  from  disturbances  in  the 
general  nervous  system  by  which  a  contracted  pinched 


TREATMENT  OF  DISEASES  259 

condition  of  the  circulation  is  induced  in  the  brain. 
Drink  lots  of  hot  lemonade  or  peppermint  tea  and 
place  the  hot  water  bag  to  either  the  forehead  or  back 
of  the  head ;  sometimes  ice  to  the  base  of  the  brain. 
Oftentimes  the  patient  has  overworked  his  whole  ner- 
vous system  until  he  has  a  fixed  ache  in  the  base  of 
the  brain.  This  is  a  sure  sign  that  he  is  using  up 
vitality  faster  than  he  is  making  it.  The  remedy  is 
rest,  water  drinking,  good  food  and  breathing  exer- 
cises, (See  Lung  Gymnastics)  with  heat  and  cold 
to  the  spine.  Massage  helps  greatly  in  these  cases. 
If  aches  develop  about  the  eyes  and  in  the  forehead  or 
temples  or  disagreeable  feelings  come  on  in  the  latter 
part  of  the  day  or  after  an  efifort  at  reading  or  fine 
work  have  the  eyes  properly  fitted  with  glasses. 

Congestive  headache  comes  from  too  much  blood  in 
the  brain.  If  the  feet  are  cold,  always  give  an  alter- 
nate hot  and  cold  foot  bath,  quite  a  vigorous  general 
massage,  and  cold  applications  to  the  head.  Some- 
times a  good  sweat  is  the  best  thing.  Disturbances 
in  the  solar  plexus  or  uterus  often  cause  headaches, 
especially  at  time  of  menstruation.  Put  a  hot  water 
bottle  at  the  pit  of  the  stomach,  or  at  the  spine  just 
opposite  the  stomach,  or  the  remedies  recommended 
for  painful   menstruation   should  be  used. 

Chronic  headaches  are  sometimes  caused  by  high 
heels  or  walking  on  a  hard  pavement.  Remedy,  wear 
low  rHbl^er  heels.  Do  not  forget  that  it  is  difficult  to 
get  up  a  disturbance  in  the  circulation  if  the  blood 
is  kept  diluted  as  it  slK^uld  l)c. 

Sympathetic  headaches  arc  due  to  disturbances  in 
other   organs    of    the    l)ody    as    the    li\er,    uterus,   and 


260  ESSENTIALS    TO    LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

bowels.  Correct  the  local  difficulty  and  the  headaches 
will   pass  very   soon. 

A  form  of  headache  called  Migraine — one-sided  head- 
ache— is  due  to  stomach  or  abdominal  sympathetic 
disturbances.  Leave  out  the  stimulants ;  drink  freely 
of  hot  water,  with  a  little  herb  flavoring;  apply  heat 
and  cold  to  the  pit  of  the  stomach ;  leave  out  yeast 
germs  from  your  diet ;  eat  moderately  of  one  or  two 
kinds  of  good  food ;  leave  the  waist  band  free  and 
if  you  have  a  prolapsed  stomach  and  bowels,  wear  a 
good  abdominal  supporter.  These  are  the  various 
remedies,  any  one  of  which  may  give  full  relief. 

Avoid  phenacetine  and  antikamnia  and  all  forms 
of  headache  powders.  They  will  only  at  the  most 
fool  you  for  the  time  and  in  an  unlucky  moment  may 
cost  you  your  life.  What  relief  they  give  is  caused 
by  the  nervous  system  in  its  efforts  to  care  for  the 
drug,  getting  up  a  disturbance  somewhere  else  in  the 
body  which  may  not  be  so  apparent  to  your  sensory 
nervous  system. but  perhaps  far  more  injurious  to  the 
vital  forces  than  the  headache.  The  pain  is  a  warn- 
ing to  you  to  change  your  habits  and  not  a  call  for 
drugs. 

Prevention  of  Colds. 

A  long  list  of  diseases  are  due  directly  to  "taking 
cold,"  which  means  simply  a  severe  congestion  in 
some  internal  organ  or  organs ;  occasionally  in  a  sprain 
or  bruise,  or  a  weary  set  of  muscles.  Catarrh,  La 
Grippe,  I'ronchitis,  Laryngitis,  Lung  Consumption, 
Quinsy,  Croup,  Diphtheria,  Pneumonia,  Pleurisy, 
Catarrhal  Deafness,  all  these  are  due  directly  to  taking 
coUl.      'iln'    germs    of    consumption,    jmcumonia    and 


TREATMENT  ()F   DISEASES  261 

diphtheria  would  not  begin  to  multiply  did  they  not 
find  a  weakened,  fevered  condition  in  the  membranes. 
These  germs  will  not  increase  in  healthy  tissue  at  a 
normal  temperature  beyond  the  power  of  the  body  to 
destroy  them.  Let  the  temperature  be  raised  two  or 
three  degrees  and  the  membranes  become  correspond- 
ingly lowered  in  vitality  and  at  once  the  germs  get 
the  advantage.  A  healthy  throat  may  carry  diphtheria 
germs  for  a  week  and  no  damage  result.  It  is  there- 
fore evident  that  taking  cold  is  a  very  serious  affair. 
The  first  thing  in  the  way  of  prevention  is  an  invigor- 
ating even  temperature;  second,  the  body  should  be 
evenly  clad ;  third,  a  pure  clean  atmosphere ;  fourth, 
absence  of  germs.  People  seldom  take  colds  in  coun- 
tries where  these  conditions  exist,  where  the  air  is 
dry  and  the  extremes  of  temperature  range  from  25° 
to  100^.  Southern  California,  Arizona,  New  Mexico 
and  Southern  Texas  and  some  other  parts  of  our 
country  are  exceptionally  excellent  in  this  respect. 
In  these  sections  and  many  other  places  in  the  world, 
the  people  have  to  take  very  few  precautions  against 
colds.  In  the  arctic  regions  there  is  little  trouble  of 
this  kind  because  of  the  steady  even  cold  and  the 
absence  of  germs.  In  the  Valley  of  the  Amazon  it  is 
said  that  if  the  tourist  from  North  America  unpacks 
his  grip  in  the  cabin  of  his  Indian  host,  it  means  al- 
tnost  sure  death  to  some  of  the  family;  the  tourist 
carries  the  germs  of  influenza,  and  the  low  state  of 
vital  resistance,  due  to  a  continued  high  temperature, 
furnish  the  conditions.  The  experienced  Indian  gives 
the  traveler  a  hammock  and  invites  him  to  sleep  out- 
"^ide.  In  the  North  Temperate  Zone,  we  have  other 
conditions   to   encounter.      W'c   have   the   sudden    and 


262  ESSENTIALS    TO    LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

extreme  changes  and  the  geinis  combined.  Now  \\  hat 
shall  we  do?  First,  develop  vital  resistance.  This 
can  and  must  be  done  by  all  and  every  means  we  can 
invent  to  keep  the  circulation  well  balanced.  The  feet, 
and  the  skin  of  the  entire  body  must  be  kept  warm  and 
the  circulation  in  them  vigorous.  This  prevents  the 
blood  from  centering  to  the  internal  membranes  and 
thus  raising  a  temperature  there  that  will  encourage 
germ  development. 

Cool  and  cold  hand  and  sponge  baths ;  cold  mitten 
friction;  dry  turkish  towel  rubs;  oil  rubs;  alternate 
hot  and  cold  foot  baths  are  the  essentials.  One  may 
grow  into  the  use  of  these  things.  He  should  not 
use  them  all  at  once,  but  from  day  to  day  use  a 
sufificiency  of  one  or  the  other  of  these  applications, 
to  keep  the  skin  healthy  and  active. 

Second,  care  for  the  diet,  using  only  pure  foods  and 
only  in  sufificient  quantities  to  sustain  nature  fully  and 
of  a  kind  to  keep  the  bowels  active,  not  placing  a 
heavy  burden  on  the  depurating  organs  by  eating  so 
nuich  that  the  body  will  have  to  weaken  itself  in  la- 
boring to  throw  out  the  waste.  Then  use  water  to 
keep  the  circulation  free  as  we  have  shown  in  other 
places,  and  free  thorough  breathing  as  set  forth  under 
diaphragm   gymnastics. 

Good  earnest  patient  labor  which  hardens  the  tissue 
without  undue  weariness  is  also  an  important  essen- 
tial. Sleeping  in  a  good  bed  in  a  cool  room  with  full 
free  ventilation ;  all  these  things  with  comfortable 
clothing  and  w-arm  floors  to  insure  warmth  of  the  ex- 
trem.ities  and  the  average  person  stands  a  fair  chance 
to  escape  "colds"  from  year  to  year. 

To  summarize;  even  temperature  of  body,  pure  air. 


TREATMENT  OF  DISEASES  263 

pure  food  and  water ;  absence  of  germs ;  where  this 
combination  exists  nothing  more  is  needed.  For  our 
northern  climates  develop  vital  resistance  by  keeping 
the  skin  and  extremities  warm,  and  the  circulation 
vigorous  with  cool  or  cold  baths;  eat  just  enough 
good  food  of  right  quality  to  keep  the  body  nourished 
and  the  bowels  active;  drink  freelv  of  water,  practice 
full  thorough  breathing,  have  a  good  place,  and  good 
bed  to  sleep  in  ;  keep  the  floors  in  your  house  warm 
and  exercise  moderately  every  day ;  even,  vigorous 
exercise  will  not  harm  you  if  you  do  not  go  to  ex- 
tremes. 

The  Care  of  the  Eyes. 

Theie  is  a  wonderful  lack  of  judgment  on  the  part 
of  many  people  in  reference  to  the  wearing  of  spec- 
tacles. Many  suppose  that  the  longer  they  can  en- 
dure to  go  without  them  the  better  for  the  eyes.  This 
is  a  sorry  mistake.  Just  as  soon  as  there  is  the  least 
indication  of  eye  weakness  or  disturbance  after  the 
patient  is  four  or  five  years  old  and  school  attendince 
develops  his  infirmity,  proper  glasses  should  be  fitted 
and  worn  constantly. 

A  great  majority  are  born  with  the  inabilitv  to  focus 
parallel  rays  of  lipht  on  the  retina,  that  is  to  see  in 
the  distance,  without  an  unnatural  effort.  These  per- 
sons have  much  greater  difficulty  to  sec  near  objects 
and  study  fine  print.  It  is  asserted  1)\-  high  authority, 
that  many  dull  scholars  have  become  criminals  or 
grown  up  to  useless  lives  just  l:)ecause  it  was  so  diffi- 
cult for  them  to  use  the  eyes  in  study.  Some  good 
oculists  assert  that  we  use  up  about  one-third  of  all 
our  nervous  energy  with  our  eyes.  If  this  is  any  where 


264  ESSENTIALS    TO    L,IFE    AND    HEALTH 

near  true  it  emphasizes  the  importance  of  having  the 
eyes  supplied  with  all  the  help  they  need  just  as 
soon  as  it  becomes  apparent  that  there  is  any  de- 
ficiency. The  individual  having  no  standard  but  his 
own  is  a  poor  judge  of  his  needs  in  this  respect.  And 
the  parents  of  children  with  deficient  eyes,  instead  of 
clinging  to  the  old  fable,  that  glasses  are  an  evil  to 
be  avoided  as  long  as  possible,  should  consult  a  well 
trained  oculist  or  optometrist  as  soon  as  the  child  com- 
plains of  his  eyes  or  manifests  dullness  about  his 
studies.  City  and  state  authorities  are  beginning  to 
look  after  this  matter  and  a  better  class  of  practitioners 
is  being  developed.  So  there  will  be  less  excuse  for 
neglect  along  these  lines.  It  is  a  fact  that  cataract  or 
hardening  of  the  lens,  and  glaucoma,  both  not  far  re- 
moved from  being  incurable  troubles  when  once  dis- 
covered, are  both  due  to  abuses  of  the  eye  through 
the  neglect  to  provide  proper  correction  for  bad  vision. 
When  this  has  been  properly  done  a  multitude  of 
minor  difficulties  will  promptly  disappear,  and  if  at- 
tended to  early  in  life  it  will  prevent  the  strain  and 
weariness  from  over  use  of  the  delicate  structures  of 
the  eye,  and  render  serious  trouble  in  the  future,  al- 
most impossible. 

Cases  of  St.  Vitus  Dance  have  disappeared  soon 
after  proper  correction  of  the  vision  with  glasses. 
Cases  of  sea  sickness  from  riding  on  the  cars,  and  se- 
vere hysterical  nervous  symptoms  often  cease  when 
proper  glasses  are  worn. 

Pain. 

This  danger  signal  is  set  up  nearly  every  time,  by 
the  life  within,  whenever  there  is  a  real  difficulty  exist- 


TREATMENT  OF  DISEASES  265 

\ng  ill  the  \ital  domain.  If  the  pain  is  promptly  re- 
lieved in  a  natural  way,  the  trouble  is  almost  every 
time  at  an  end.  lUit  if  the  nervous  system  is  deadened 
by  the  presence  of  some  stront^  drug  like  opium  or 
cocaine,  or  antikamnia  or  phenacetine,  so  that  it  is 
not  able  to  sound  the  alarm,  the  body  is  worse  off  than 
before:  for  now  it  has  not  only  the  first  trouble  to  deal 
with,  but  it  must  also  take  care  of  the  drug  and  get' 
it  out  of  the  system. 

The  first  and  best  step  for  the  relief  of  pain  in  gen- 
eral is  enough  water  added  U)  the  blood  to  make  it 
flow  naturally.  This  may  be  accomplished  in  most 
cases  by  drinking  and  adding,  in  some  cases  tepid 
enemas  and  letting  them  absorb,  say  half  a  pint  to  a 
pint  at  a  time.  If  the  pain  shows  the  presence  of 
poisons  in  the  alimentary  canal,  they  should  be  washed 
out  as  soon  as  possible  by  copious  drinking  of  hot 
germicide  affusions,  like  hot  lemonade  and  hot  pepper- 
mint tea  and  by  full  warm  soap  suds  enema.  Hot  ex- 
ternal applications,  (over  a  painful  part)  will  almost 
always  give  relief.  They  should  be  applied  gener- 
ously. There  are  a  few  cases  where  heat  will  not 
give  relief.  Then  use  very  cold  water  or  exen  ice. 
In  some  cases  the  alternate  use  of  heat  and  cold  will 
be  most  effective.  Massage  may  be  used  in  nearly 
all  cases  and  l)ecomes  a  most  efificient  helj)  if  the  pre- 
caution of  thinning  the  blond  is  looked  after.  Elec- 
tricity is  a  very  \aluable  aid  in  deep  seated  nerve  pain 
and  often  accomplishes  more  than  hot  or  cold  appli- 
cations. All  these  procedures  stir  up  the  circulation 
and  send  along  the  old  blood  and  fluids  containing 
the  offending  i)oisons  to  be  cast  out  of  the  body  in- 
stead of  remaining  to  make  trinible. 

18 


266  ESSENTIALS    TO    LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

In  the  passing-  of  gall  stones,  or  renal  calculi,  we 
have  trouble  that  is  too  deep  for  ordinary  external 
applications.  Here  we  have  a  good  excuse  for  relax- 
ing the  tissues  with  sedatives  or  anesthetics  so  that 
the  obstruction  can  pass.  There  are  but  few  cases, 
however,  where  this  becomes  necessary.  So  the  in- 
discriminate use  of  sedative  drugs  cannot  be  justified 
and  their  use  should  never  be  attempted  only  under 
the  direction  of  a  wise  physician. 

That  awful  ache  in  the  lower,  back  portion  of  the 
brain,  is  the  forerunner  of  any  one  of  several  disasters, 
unless  you  call  a  halt.  It  means  that  you  are  using 
up  vitality  faster  than  you  are  manufacturing  it.  You'd 
better  take  a  rest  and  go  to  practicing  vibratory 
breathing  or  take  lessons  in  learning  how  to  do  it,  so 
as  to  get  your  laboratory  in  order.  You  will  thus 
increase  the  production  of  vital  energy.  At  the  same 
time  discontinue  all  stimulants,  even  tea  and  coffee. 
Stop  using  the  lash  on  the  tired  horse.  Give  him  a 
rest  and  some  good  feed.  Massage  or  Osteopathy  and 
alternate  applications  of  heat  and  cold  to  the  spine  and 
l)ase  of  the  brain  will  work  wonders.  Begin  easy 
and  gradually  increase  the  vigor  of  the  manipulation. 
An  ocean  voyage,  a  visit  to  the  country,  three  months 
in  a  sanitarium  are  all  good  in  such  cases.  Which  you 
should  do  all  depends  on  the  length  of  your  purse  and 
your  physical  condition  in  general.  But  rest  you 
must  have.  Anxiety  and  worry  and  all  care  should 
be  laid  aside  until  production  of  vital  energy  overtakes 
consumption.  This  symptom  comes  to  the  world's 
workers  and  burden  bearers,  to  men  and  women  who 
are  carrying  loads  that  do  not  belong  to  them.  Cast 
these  burdens  overboard  for  a  part  of  the  time  at  least. 


J  TREATMENT  OF  DISEASES  267 

and  give  life  a  chance  to  assert  itself  before  paralysis 
in  some  form  or  nervous  prostration  overtakes  yon. 
If  life  is  worth  living  let  us  live  it  right. 

In  some  cases  hard  leather  heels  and  a  hard  pave- 
ment or  floor  will  account  for  back  ache  and  back 
headache.  Have  very  low  rubber  heels  put  on  yomr 
shoes  at  once  and  relief  will  be  immediate,  if  due  to 
this  cause. 

Locomotor  Ataxia.  ^ 

The  symptoms  of  this  disease  are  due  to  the  gradiral 
failure  of  the  motor  nerve  fibers  of  the  spinal  cord. 
It  is  a  very  progressive  disease,  slowly  but  gradually 
continuing  till  it  ends  in  dissolution. 

Ninety  per  cent  of  the  cases  have  been  traced  di- 
rectly to  syphilis,  a  disease  due  generally  to  lust 
alone.  It  is  a  most  awful  penalty  for  the  violation  of 
the  law  of  chastity,  to  have  to  perish  by  such  a  pain- 
fully humiliating  process. 

The  only  remedy  which  will  even  stay  the  progress 
of  the  disease  partially  is  a  system  of  coordinate  e*c- 
ercises  as  set  forth  b}-  Doctor  Frankel  in  his  work 
on  "The  Treatment  of  Tabetic  Ataxia,"  to  which  we 
refer  the  reader.  It  is  published  by  P.  Blackiston's 
Son   &   Co.,   Philadelphia. 

We  might  mention  two  or  three  other  diseases,  and 
their  hundreds  of  consequences,  which  are  due  mi^t 
often  to  sexual  sins  but  they  are  so  well  known  that 
we  forbear.  These  diseases  are  on  the  increase.  There 
are  enough  living  object  lessons  of  this  kind  to  cau*;e 
men  and  women  to  revolt  at  the  thought  of  indulgence 
which  leads  to  such  direful  consequences. 

Physicians    there    are,    who   assert    that    syphilis    is 


268  ESSENTIALS  TO  LIFE  AND  HEALTH 

curable,  but  it  is  evident  to  the  writer  from  the  testi- 
mony of  scores  of  reputable  physicians,  and  from  the 
miserable  end  of  the  most  of  these  wrecks  he  has 
inet,  that  all  such  claims  are  groundless.  There  is 
mone}'  in  this  filthy  practice;  that  is  the  motive 
prompting   the   promise   of   cure. 

■  It  is  true  that  mercurial  preparations  will  produce 
another  cause  of  oiifence  in  the  body  and  thus  divide 
the  energies  of  the  body  in  the  fight  against  syphilitic 
poison,  so  that  the  latter  symptoms  become  less  prom- 
inent. But  still  the  man  can  bequeath  to  his  ofifspring 
(\\Q  hereditary  syphilitic  symptoms. 

General  Remarks. 

■  Whenever  the  treatment  is  soothing  and  comforting 
to  the  patient  you  are  on  the  right  road.  In  all  cases 
of  severe  disturbance  in  the  body  if  the  patient  goes 
to  sleep  under  the  treatment  without  sedative  drugs 
the  treatment  is  having  a  good  effect.  Then  just  keep 
the  surface  of  the  body  warm,  especially  the  feet  and 
limbs,  and  you  will  thus  keep  the  volume  of  blood 
at  the  surface,  and  prevent  it  returning  to  the  parts 
that  may  have  geen  congested,  and  your  patient  will 
be  carried  along  steadily  and  smoothly  toward  a  good 
recovery. 

'  Sleep  is  the  great  restorer.  Never  disturb  the 
patient's  slumbers  to  give  him  food,  treatment  or 
medicine. 

Never  get  excited  over  any  case  of  trouble  and  ''lose 
your  head";  and  don't  let  excitable,  fidgety  people 
have  anything  to  do  with  caring  for  the  sick. 

Don't  undertake  to  give  anv  treatment  unless  vou 


TREATMENT  OF  DISEASES  26^ 

are  clear  in  your  own  mind  as  to  what  oujuht  tt)  be 
done. 

Jn  acute  cases  do  not  urge  food  upon  tlie  patienf 
till  he  manifests  a  desire  for  nourishment.  There  is 
no  danger  of  the  patient  suffering  for  want  of  food, 
mitil  the  body  has  begun  to  call  for  it. 

In  chronic  cases  you  are  generally  safe  in  urging 
the  patient  to  use  freely  of  water  in  various  ways  and 
with  a  variety  of  flavorings. 

Go  over  the  principles  contained  in  this  volume 
until  you  are  familiar  with  them.  Every  time  you 
study  any  one  of  the  Seven  Essentials  and  the  Laws 
of  Health  relating  to  it,  some  new,  clearer  conceptions 
of  Hygienic  truth  will  dawn  upon  you. 

r>e  not  satisfied  till  you  know  what  preventioiv 
means  and  how  to  secure  it.  Then  you  will  have  very, 
little  trouble  with  the  giving  of  treatments  for  thej; 
will   not  often   be   needed. 

Do  not  wait  until  you  are  sick,  before  you  begin  to 
care  for  your  capital  of  health.  Don't  wait  till  old 
General  Debility  has  marshalled  his  formidable  hosts 
to  conquer  you. 


CHAPTER  X, 

Pointers, 

the  Mouth. 

A  clean  mouth  is  the  portal:  to  a  clean  alimentary 
canal.  Many  obscure  cases  of  wretchedness  get  well 
as  soon  as  the  old  decayed  teeth  are  removed,  and 
proper  filling  and  plate  worJ<  is  done.  Clean  the  teeth 
on  rising  and  on  retiring,  and  after  each  meal.  A 
good  brush  adapted  to  the  conditions,  with  tooth 
powder  made  of  nine  parts  precipitated  chalk,  and  one 
part  calcined  magnesia,  with  a  trifle  of  orris  root  and 
a  little  faithful  deliberate  work  will  accomplish  the 
result.  Keep  your  brush  cleansed  with  soda  and  water, 
a' teaspoonful  to  each  cupful.  Cinnamon  water  is  an 
excellent  mouth  wash ;  one  part  Cinnamon  Essence 
to  ten  of  water. 

Regulate  the  Appetite. 

Good  things  ought  to  taste  good.  If  they  do  not  you 
had  better  regulate  the  appetite.  If  good  things  do 
taste  good  do  not  be  afraid  they  are  unhygienic;  just 
hold  on  to  the  appetite  a  little. 

Persistence  Required. 

If  people  would  exercise  one  quarter  the  persistence 
in  learning  to  like  good  things  that  the  young  fellow 
does  in  learning  to  like  tobacco,  wonderful  reforms  in 


POINTERS  271 

table  habits  would  promptly  follow.  See  how  that 
young  fellow  sticks,  and  hangs,  and  tries  to  learn  to 
like  that  nasty  weed.  How  sick  it  makes  him.  Why, 
he  acts  inspired  with  persistence.  We  reckon  he  is; 
but  it  can't  be  an  inspiration  from  above.  Oh !  didn't 
it  make  him  sick?  You  say  he  liked  it  before  he 
could  run  alone?  Then  all  the  more  blame  to  those 
who  will  pass  these  hereditary  appetites  on  to  their 
children  and  grandchildren.  Tobacco  and  strong 
drink  are  getting  a  firm  hold  on  mankind  through 
hereditary  transmission  of  appetite  alone. 

Chewing. 

Chew  as  you  ought  to  if  you  would  digest  as  you 
w-ant  to. 

The  Epicure. 

In  his  haste,  this  man  often  loses  the  very  thing  he 
is  most  anxious  to  secure — the  flavor  of  the  food. 
Deliberation  is  part  of  the  price  paid  for  good  diges- 
tion and  enjoyment. 

Better  eat  too  little,  and  eat  it  well,  than  eat  too 
much  and  do  it  poorly.  The  act  of  chewing  sets  the 
digestive  fluids  to  flowing,  so  chew  thoroughly. 

Bulk  in  Food. 

In  choosing  food  supplies  remember  bulk  is  just  as 
necessary  as  nutrition.  Don't  let  any  one  condemn 
cabbage  or  turnips  or  celery  or  any  other  bulky  food, 
just  because  its  percentage  of  nutrition  is  low.  The 
alimentary  canal  must  have  inilk  in  the  food  for  me- 
chanical stimulation.  The  skin  of  some  fruits  is  not 
to  be  rejected  as  useless.  Plums,  prunes,  nectarines  and 


272  ESSENTIALS    TO    LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

cherries,  for  best  bowel  results,  should  be  eaten  skins 
and  all.  Grape  skins  are  not  injurious  but  the  seeds 
should  be  rejected,  in  many  cases.  The  bran  of  the 
wheat  and  rye  should  be  ground  fine  and  left  in  the 
flour.  This  sugegstion  will  help  wonderfully  in  the 
cure  of  constipation.  There  are  a  few  weak,  sensi- 
tive cases  where  caution  is  needed  in  the  use  of  bulk. 
Where  looseness  is  the  habit  use  less  coarse  material 
and  avoid  fruit  skins;  also  in  prolapse  of  the  stomach. 

Graham  Flour. 

This  is  only  another  name  for  whole  wheat  ground 
up  bran  and  all,  into  fine  meal  or  flour.  It  received  its 
name  from  Sylvester  Graham,  who  for  many  years 
traveled  in  the  United  States  and  advocated  the  use 
of  wheat  meal.  He  was  perhaps  the  pioneer  food  re- 
former in  this  country.  True  Graham  flour  is  a  hard 
thing  to  find  nowadays.  It  is  mostly  made  from  poor 
dour  and  coarse  bran  thrown  together  with  a  shovel, 
and  called  by  the  mill  roustabout  "Slioxcl   (u-aham." 

"Whole  Wheat  Flour  or  Entire  Wheat  Flour.  " 

The  article  now  sold  in  most  stores  under  this  name 
is  not  whole  wheat  flour.  The  bran  is  mostly  left  out 
and  a  good  share  of  the  starch.  It  is  a  middlings 
product  in  the  long  roller  process  of  flour  making. 
There  are  excellent  liand  mills  today  that  will  pre- 
fectly  grind  wheat  and  corn  and  rye,  just  as  fine  as 
it  need  be.  So  the  people  may  produce  their  own 
wheat  flour  if  they  will,  and  have  it  fresh  every  day. 
There  is  a  commercial  reason  for  nf)t  putting  nut  whole 
wheat  floTir  in  great  cjuantities,  as  is  done  with  the 
other  fl(nu-.     The  germ  of  the  wheat  contains  the  oil 


POINTERS  273 

of  the  grain.  It  the  germ  is  ground  into  the  flour, 
this  oil  in  warm  weather  turns  rancid  and  attracts  the 
moths,  and  at  once  you  have  wormy  flour.  The  only 
sure  way  is  to  go  back  to  first  methods  and  produce 
your  flour  fresh  as  it  is  needed  in  your  own  home. 
Then  you  get  the  full  supply  of  bone  making  material 
as  well  as  all  the  other  nutritive  elements. 

This  is  the  only  way  to  escape  having  to  use  the 
starved,  bleached  products  which  are  now  about  the 
only  forms  in  which  wheat  in  flour  is  offered  to  the 
public. 

Boiled  Wheat,  Rye  or  Corn. 

Slightly  brown  the  grain  in  the  oven  in  a  large 
dripping  pan.  being  cautious  not  to  get  the  oven  too 
hot ;  or  take  a  small  quantity  in  the  spider  or  skillet 
with  a  cover.  Heat  this  on  top  of  the  stove,  shaking 
frequently  to  get  an  even  brown.  If  the  grain  is 
slightly  popped  or  cracked  with  the  heat  all  the  better. 
Grain  treated  in  this  way  will  cook  whole  in  less  than 
half  the  time  that  raw  grain  requires.  If  slightly 
cracked  it  cooks  quicker  or  may  be  eaten  without  cook- 
ing, lliis  iircparation  is  more  nearly  the  food  of  the 
ancients  than  most  of  tlu'  so-called  health  foods. 
Raisins  or  an}-  whole  dried  fruit  which  will  keep  its 
shape  make  a  wonderfull\'  nice  addition  if  cooked  into 
these  dishes.  Very  few  know  the  worth  of  these  grains 
until  they  have  tried  this  method  of  preparation  and 
combination.  Two  or  three  meals  of  this  kind  of  food 
each  week  will  do  much  to  cure  slowness  of  the  in- 
testines. 

Rolled   wheat,  rn-   rolk-d   oats  or   barlc\-,   or   rice,  or 


274  ESSENTIALS    TO    LIKE    AND    HEALTH 

cornmeal  are  very  much  nicer  and   more   appetizing 
for  a  change  if  slightly  browned  before  cooking. 

Crinklets. 

Here  is  a  new,  home  made,  pretty  article  of  baked 
goods.  Make  a  very  stiff  dough  of  graham,  whole 
wheat,  or  white  flour  with  nothing  in  it  but  cream 
or  cooking  oil  for  shortening,  a  small  amount  of  milk 
for  wetting  and  a  little  salt.  Be  sure  your  dough  is 
very  stiiT.  Now  as  soon  as  this  will  hold  together,  run 
it  through  a  vegetable  chopper  using  the  coarse  disc. 
After  putting  it  through  three  or  four  times  until  it  is 
much  like  cracker  dough,  the  last  time  it  comes  out- 
catch  it  on  a  dripping  tin  as  it  comes  through,  moving 
the  tin  about  so  as  to  distribute  evenly  the  crinklets 
of  dough.  You  will  find  it  elegant  when  nicely  made 
and  baked. 

Unpolished  Rice. 

About  one-half  of  the  really  important  nutritive  ele- 
ments are  scoured  off  the  ordinary  rice  of  commerce. 
We  refer  to  the  gluten  and  bone-making  material 
which,  as  in  the  other  grains,  lies  nearest  the  surface. 
These  are  sacrificed  for  appearance  in  an  endeavor  to 
please  a  false  notion  about  refinement  which  prevails 
among  most  civilized  peoples. 

Japan  feeds  her  army  and  her  people  on  the  un- 
polished rice.  Thanks  to  the  prevailing  good  sense 
of  some  of  our  dietetic  reformers,  this  exceedingly 
wholesome  and  palatable  grain  can  now  be  had  in  the 
markets  of  civilized  America,  owing  to  the  demand 
that  has  recently  arisen  for  it. 


POINTERS  275 

Gruels  and  Soups. 

Gruel  made  of  cornmeal,  oatmeal,  wheatmeal  or 
pearled  barley  and  water,  with  a  little  cream  and  salt 
is  the  best  thing  to  start  on  after  a  prolonged  attack 
of  stomach  or  bowel  difficulty.  ^lake  very-thin  and 
boil  one  to  four  hours.  Use  whichever  grain  the 
patient  likes  best.  They  are  all  about  equally  good, 
and  may  be  used  freely  without  danger.  Good  in  mod- 
erate quantities  after  typhoid  fever.  Cook  longest 
for  the  invalids. 

One  of  the  world's  great  men  who  for  many  years 
has  stood  at  the  head  of  one  of  the  great  schools  of 
medicine,  prescribes  cornmeal  gruel  as  a  staple  article 
of  food  in  the  great  majority  of  cases.  This  is  not  a 
matter  of  hearsay,  but  of  personal  knowledge. 

Bean  and  pea  soups,  made  very  thin  with  beans  put 
through  the  sieve  to  take  out  all  the  skins,  or  with 
split  peas,  is  also  most  excellent.  These  liquid  foods, 
gruels  and  soups,  almost  always  set  good  on  the  weak 
stomach  and  they  are  infinitely  better  than  beef  tea 
or  meat  extracts  which  are  very  little  more  than  a 
solution  of  waste  animal  poisons. 

The  Fireless  Cooker. 

This  recent  new  invention  is  all  right,  if  made  right. 
Just  the  thing  where  long  cooking  is  required. 

Sterilized  Bread. 

Put  a  cup  of  water  in  the  oven  when  baking  yeast 
bread  and  bake  slowly  two  and  a  half  to  three  hours; 
the  long  continued  heat  destroys  the  yeast  germs,  so 
this  bread  is  free  fium  yeast  ferments  and  is  just  as 


276  ESSENTIALS  TO  LIFE  AND  HEALTH 

good  if  not  better  than  zwieback.  People  who  have 
been  troubled  with  gas  in  the  stomach  or  asthma  will 
find  this  bread  about  as  harmless  as  well  cooked  rice, 
even  if  eaten  before  it  is  cold. 

Shortening. 

This  seems  yet  to  be  a  necessity,  as  it  was  in  the 
days  of  Elijah,  when  he  boarded  with  the  widow  of 
Zarephath  (I  Kings,  17),  or  in  the  days  when  the 
Levitical  Priests  ate  fried  cakes.  (Lev.  7:12-14.)  But 
the  question  now  is  a  return  from  animal  to- vegetable 
fats.  This  change  is  very  distressing  to  some  people, 
as  most  changes  are  after  the  middle  of  life.  But  we 
have  the  good  things  now  if  we  will  only  select  and 
use  them.  For  the  country  people  sterilized  cream  and 
butter  stand  first,  then  there  is  plain  cotton  oil  under 
several  names  for  everybody.  And  we  have  corn  oil 
and  olive  oil  and  peanut  oil  and  mustard  oil  and  nut 
oils.  But  b}'  far  the  most  reasonable  of  these  in  price 
if  bought  in  quantity  is  the  cotton  oil.  The  writer 
some  fifteen  years  ago  spent  several  months'  time  in- 
vestigating the  cottonseed  and  oil.  He  found  the  nat- 
ural barrier  to  the  use  of  cottonseed  oil  was  the  fact 
that  in  most  cotton  growing  countries  the  seed  be- 
came rancid  in  the  boll  from  rain  and  lieat  just  be- 
fore picking.  .\t  least  one  seccl  in  from  three  to  five 
in  every  l)oll  l)eing  very  dark  and  rancid.  (_)il  made 
from  this  seed  requires  too  nnu-li  refining  to  make  it 
fit  for  use.  Oil  from  seed  grown  in  countries  like 
Egypt,  India,  and  Texas,  or  Imperial  \"alley,  Cali- 
fornia, or  Old  Mexico,  where  no  rain  falls  during  the 
])icking  season  is  much  purer  and  cleaner,  and  requires 


POINTERS 


H  i 


little  refiiiini;"  to  make  it  excellent.  The  oil  made  from 
corn  germ  or  chit  is  very  fine;  so  is  peanut  oil. 

This  corn  oil  is  produced  in  the  Mississippi  Valley, 
where  large  quantities  of  corn  are  prepared  for  ship- 
ment to  Mediterranean  ports,  by  stripping  it  of  the 
chit  or  germ.  Prepared  in  this  way  it  will  stand  ship- 
ment to,  and  keep  well,  in  hot  climates,  because  the  oil 
is  mostly  removed  in  the  germ.  Otherwise  the  oil  in 
the  germ  becomes  rancid  and  attracts  the  moths  and 
the  grain  soon  becomes  wormy  and  ruined.  This  in- 
dustry helped  raise  the  price  of  corn  in  ^Mississippi 
Valley  from  twenty-five  cents  in  1898  to  sixty  cents 
in  1908.  The  trade  was  secured  in  Europe  through 
demonstrations  at  the  Paris  I'^xposition  in  \9Q0. 

]\Iuch  has  been  said  in  favor  of  olive  oil.  lUit  oli\e 
oil  must  be  made  from  sound  fruit  or  it  is  not  as  good 
as  cotton  oil.  Unadulterated  olive  oil  sometimes  leaves 
a  smart  in  the  throat  a  few  minutes  after  swallowing 
it.  This  is  due  to  the  fact  that  the  fruit  from  whicli 
it  was  made  was  decayed  at  the  pit.  Good  cotton  oil 
is  much  better  than  this.  Indeed  most  of  the  European 
olive  oil  used  in  America,  is  more  than  half  cotton 
oil.  This  rancid  olive  oil  is  as  unfit  for  use  as  any 
other  rancid  oil. 

Animal  products  are  becoming  so  diseased  that  we 
nuist  soon  quit  cream  and  butter  and  we  ought  to  be 
reaching  out  to  find  something  to  take  their  place.  The 
body  must  have  some  fats  or  disasters  will  overtake 
us  in  the  form  of  malnutrition,  constipation.  l)oils,  etc.. 
but  use  all  shortening  sparingly,  as  a  ciunparatively 
moderate    aniduiu    onh-    is    needed. 


278  ESSENTIALS    TO    LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

Cucumbers. 

This  popular  vegetable  contains  but  about  six  per 
cent  of  nutrition.  It  is,  however,  a  most  excellent 
relish  in  spite  of  its  being  quite  indigestible  for  many 
people.  It  will  be  much  better  appreciated  generally 
when  everybody  learns  that  it  can  be  greatly  improved 
by  cooking.  Pare  and  slice  and  stew  in  just  a  little 
water  for  thirty  to  forty  minutes.  Then  season  with 
salt  and  lemon  juice  and  a  little  salad  oil.  You  will 
be  quite  sure  to  enjoy  cucumbers  in  this  style  and  they 
will   digest  well. 

Cabbage  — How  to  Cook. 

Take  two  quarts  of  water  or  a  little  less,  put  into 
this  about  one-eight  to  one-sixth  of  a  teaspoonful  of 
common  soda.  Boil  the  cabbage  in  this  till  tender, 
season  with  salt  and  squeeze  out  of  this  water.  Cooked 
in  this  manner  almost  anyone  can  eat  cabbage  with- 
out injurv. 

Beans. 

Parboiled  in  the  same  kind  of  a  solution  as  above 
for  twenty-five  minutes  and  then  changed  to  clear 
water  and  finished,  will  be  found  much  more  digestible 
than  cooked  in  the  ordinary  way. 

Mixture  and  Variety. 

I  knew  a  man  well,  in  my  boyhood  when  health 
reform  was  young,  who  was  making  the  efifort  to 
learn  how  to  live.  He  was  a  very  slow  spoken  man 
and  sometimes  drawled  his  words  out.  One  day  at  the 
table  he  took  his  bowl  of  milk  and  put  into  it  a  little 
of  each  of  the  articles  of  food  that  were  on  the  table. 


!!V•^■M  POINTERS        -     .  219 

As  he  was  doing"  this  he  said,  "I  don't  know  but  it's 
just  as  well  to  mix  the  food  afore  it  goes  into  the 
stomach  as  afterwards."  When  he  had  it  all  well  in- 
corporated he  took  up  and  poured  out  a  spoonful,  say- 
ing as  he  did  so,  "I  don't  know  but  it'll  kill  mc."  The 
looks  of  the  mess  was  what  affected  his  mind.  Many 
a  soul  is  afraid  it  will  kill  them  when  some  awful 
pain  of  indigestion  follows  an  overdose  of  the  wrong 
kind  of  mixtures  of  food.  If  people  would  plan  to 
have  only  two  or  three  staple  articles  at  each  meal 
and  make  a  whole  meal  of  them  it  would  save  much 
suffering  and  ill  health.  There  would  be  far  less 
danger  of  over  eating  and  the  food  taken  would  nour- 
ish the  body  better  than  a  larger  quantity  because  it 
would  be  better  digested. 

Many  a  good  faithful  housewife  has  worked  her 
life  out  of  her  trying  to  provide  variety  for  her  family 
and  guests,  when  she  might  by  simplifying  the  bill 
of  fare  have  found  time  for  recreation  and  recupera- 
tion and  mental  culture ;  and  perpetuated  a  life  of 
usefulness,  to  be  a  blessing  for  many  years  longer,  to 
her  family  and  friends.  And  the  family  too,  having 
been  trained  to  a  life  of  simplicity,  would  have 'been 
better  physically,  morally  and  socially.  Tlie  civilized 
world  today  is  suffering  untold  loss  and  damage  be- 
cause of  the  cravings  of  uncurbed  appetites  for  un- 
necessary variety  and  richness  in  food.  It  has  been 
well  said  that  "thousands  are  digging  their  graves 
with  their  teeth."  But  that  unbridled  fellow  back  of 
the  teeth,  Mr.  Appetite,  is  the  responsible  party,  and 
someone  before  him  is  to  blame  for  permitting  that 
young  Appetite  to  develop  his  depraved  cravings.  Ap- 


280         ESSENTIALS    TO    LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

petite  will  soon  learn  to  behave  himself,  if  he  is  curbed 
and  bridled  for  awhile  as  he  should  be. 

A  few  sugi^estions  will  be  of  service  to  those  who 
care  to  improve  their  table  habits. 

Good  Combinations. 

1.  Any  kind  of  grain  foods  and  vegetables  with 
milk  and  eggs,  for  those  with  whom  the  last  two 
agree. 

2.  Grains  and  fruits  except  the  very  acid  fruits, 
like   lemons. 

3.  Grains   and    meats. 

4.  Vegetables  and  meats. 

5.  Potatoes  and  mild  fruits  may  be  considered  good 
for  some. 

6.  Beans  or  peas  and  rice  or  other  grains. 

7.  Fruits  and  nuts. 

8.  Grains  and   nuts. 

Bad  Combinations. 

1.  Vegetables  and   fruits. 

2.  Very  acid  fruits  and  starchy  foods.  Never  drink 
lemonade  with  the  meal,  and  never  mix  lemons  and 
starch  in  cooking.  Avoid  lemon  pie  unless  you  have 
a  giant  stomach. 

3.  Meats  and  fruits. 

4.  Meats  and  milk. 

5.  Milk  and  acid  fruits. 

6.  Milk  and  sugar  only  in  very  small  quantities. 

7.  Meats  and  eggs. 

These  rules  are  for  the  moderately  healthy.  Those 
with  poor  digestion  will  have  to  exercise  a  little  closer 
discrimination  in  varietv  than  others. 


POINTERS  281 

More  About  Varieties  in  Foods. 

The  world  is  full  of  variety  in  food  products.  Every 
climate  has  its  own  special  kinds  and  generally  they 
are  sufficient  for  the  people  of  that  climate.  But 
modern  civilization  and  invention  and  the  spirit  of 
commercialism  lia\o  l)rou£^ht  to  civilized  man  more 
variety  than  he  really  needs.  If  we  had  but  a  score 
of  kinds  to  choose  from,  there  would  not  be  one-fourth 
the  trouble  there  now  is  in  choosing.  The  abundance 
makes  the  matter  of  choosing  combinations  hazardous. 

The  common  every  day  people  of  Europe  are  little 
troubled  with  dyspepsia  because  their  regular  fare  of 
"black  bread"  and  soup  and  a  few  vegetables  does 
not  stimulate  the  appetite  to  over-indulgence.  It  is 
wealth,  luxury  and  idleness  that  are  most  often  over- 
taken by  disasters.  The  ruin  of  ancient  Sodom  was 
"pride,  fulness  of  bread  and  abundance  of  idleness," 
and   failure  to  provide   for  the   needy. 

Variety  stimulates  overeating.  People  seldom  oat 
pie  and  cakes  and  desserts,  when  they  are  hungry. 
These  things  are  left  till  the  appetite  has  been  fairly 
well  satisfied  with  the  staple  articles  and  then,  gen- 
erally speaking,  an  unnecessary  burden  is  foisted  upon 
the  digestive  organs  by  putting  down  a  quantity  of 
food  that  is  not  really  needed  just  because  it  tickles 
the  palate. 

Financial  prosperity  tempts  the  common  people  to 
imitate  wealth  and  luxury,  so  that  those  same  people 
of  luirope  whom  we  have  just  mentioned,  when  once 
they  were  well  established  in  America,  began  to  in- 
dulge their  ai)petites  far  beyond  the  custom  of  their 
old  world  home  and  thousands  of  this  class  can  testify 
to  dyspeptic   and   other   digestive   distur]);uues    wliicii 

19 


282  ESSENTIALS    TO    LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

overtook  them  after  a  few  years"  residence  in  this 
country.  More  than  likely  these  diseased  conditions 
were  charged  up  to  the  climate  of  America.  Much 
of  their  trouble  might  be  traced  to  the  use  of  fine 
Hour  instead  of  the  whole  grain  meal  of  their  home 
land. 

The  Iree  use  of  sugar  and  condiments  stimulates  in- 
dulgence beyond  all  the  necessities  of  the  body.  V\'e 
are  not  speaking  to  discourage  the  true  pleasures  of 
appetite.  When  the  over-gorging  of  the  stomach  leads 
to  pain,  or  after  distress,  or  discomfort,  it  is  quite 
proper  to  inquire  about  the  wisdom  of  the  indulgence. 
Leaving  out  the  mixtures  and  satisfying  the  taste  on 
a  few  plain  foods  would  seem  to  be  the  part  of  good 
sense,  especially  when  physical  peace  and  quietness 
so  soon  bear  witness  to  the  wisdom  of  the  restraints 
which  l)rought  such  happy  results. 

Variety  is  perfectly  safe  and  we  may  eat  the  entire 
l)ill  of  fare  and  enjoy  life  if  we  only  choose  a  few 
months  instead  of  a  few  minutes  in  which  to  swallow^ 
it.  Three  or  four  kinds  of  food  at  a  meal  are  enough 
for   any  occasion. 

A  clear  head  and  a  steady  nerve  are  a  much  more 
valuable  possession  than  a  distended  stomach,  ])ain- 
ful  bowels,  a  disordered  lixer,  and  rheumatic  joints, 
and  a  fully  satisfied,  depraved  appetite. 

Whatever  course  you  pursue  you  will  get  your  pay 
as  you  go.  If  you  trace  the  relation  between  cause 
and  elTect  you  will  not  be  long  in  choosing  the  right 
way  after  it  has  been  definitely  pointed  out  to  you. 
The  laws  of  nature  do  not  wait  the  day  of  judgment 
before  the  infliction  of  the  penalty. 

Sometimes  you  may  not  be  able  to  trace  elTect  back 


POINTERS  283 

to  cause  on  account  of  tlic  Ion*;'  continued  habit.  You 
may  have  been  trained  from  chihlhood  into  excesses 
that  have  ruined  your  liealth.  The  wise  practitioner 
will  be  able  to  ])oint  out  to  _\'ou  the  causes  and  you 
will  no  doubt  be  wise  enough  to  begin  to  feel  your 
way  l)ack  into  the  right  way.  Of  all  dietetic  errors 
the  habit  of  consuming  too  many  kinds  at  once  is  the 
greatest. 

The  Evening  Meal. 

Of  all  the  meals  of  the  day  this  should  be  the  lightest 
and  least  taxing  to  the  digestive  system.  The  night 
i.s  the  time  when  nature,  through  sleep,  repairs  the 
waste  tissues  of  the  body,  bearing"  out  the  old  wornout 
cell  structure  and  replacing  it  with  new.  This  is  not 
the  time  to  ini])<isi.'  a  heavy  burden  of  labor  on  the 
\ital  ner\'ous  system  in  the  preparation  of  new  ma- 
terial, or  the  disposal  of  a  large  quantity  of  material 
not  actually  needed. 

In  our  rush  to  keep  in  pace  with  the  world,  we  rise 
from  a  disturbed  sleep,  half  rested,  without  any  appe- 
tite and  hastily  rinse  down  a  slice  of  toast  with  a  cup  of 
coffee,  or  some  other  meager  luorsel.  \\'c  get  into  the 
whirl,  and  at  noon  make  another  rush  at  luncheon  anc) 
swallow,  perha])s  a  fair  meal,  so  (|uickl\'  that  it  is  not 
wdrtli  half  price  to  us  because  it  is  so  ]ioorlv  chewed 
iir  rinsed  down  that  the  body  gets  but  ])artial  benefit 
out  ol  it.  Then  at  e\ening  coiues  the  time  of  most 
deliberation.  We  sit  (Imwii  to  a  full  meal  of  the 
most  heart}'  foods.  This  imposes  the  greatest  burden 
on  the  body  when  it  should  have  the  least;  and  it  is 
no  woiuler  that  the  body  has  hard  work  to  shake  ofl 
its    lethargv    and    get    out    at    an    carlv   hour   the    next 


284  ESSENTIALS    TO    EIFE     AND    HEALTH 

■morning.     It  is  not  strange  that  the  digestive  organs 

are  not  ready  to  invite  other  burdens  when  exhausted 

•from  the  overwork  of  the  preceding  night.  The  energy 

•that  ought  to  have  been  used  chiefly  for  distributing 

•the  products  prei)ared  from  the  previous  day  has  been 

obliged   to  look   after  a   new   supply  of  raw  material 

and  thus  divided  could  not  half  do  its  legitimate  work. 

The  only  way  out  of  this  condition  of  things  is  to 

reverse  the  order  of  quantity  and  quality  and  carry  the 

habit  of  deliberation   over  to   the   morning  and   noon 

hours.     Light  meals  at  evening  will  give  better  rest 

■for  the  night.     The  body  will  awaken  refreshed  and 

rising  earlier  will  be  prepared  to  deliberately  receive 

•  and   relish   a   full   meal. 

Digestion  is  greatly  promoted  by  the  moderate  ac- 
tivity of  the  body  and  thus  the  food  material  taken 
early  in  the  day  is  much  better  prepared  for  nourish- 

•  ing  the  body.  Full  meals  in  the  morning  and  at  noon 
make  only  a  light  meal  at  night  necessary,  and  this 
makes  possible  a  lull  night  of  refreshing  sleep.  Full 
meals  at  night   disturb  the  rest,  or  at  least  make  it 

I 

■less  refreshing,  spoil  the  appetite  for  breakfast  and 
disorder  the  workings  of  both  mind  and  body. 

The  early  morning  hours  should  be  the  brightest  and 

•  best  of  the  day,  mentally.     Much  of  the  morning  snarl- 
■  ing   and    sniveling   would   cease   if   the    evening   meal 

were  composed  of  a  very  moderate  quantity  of  easily 
: digested  foods  like  rice  or  other  grain  foods   with  a 
iittlc   fruit   or   with   a  little  cream   and   milk. 

The  nightmares  and  night  terrors  will  cease  troub- 
ling the  soul  that  is  not  disturbed  by  heavy  rich  sup- 
■pers. 

Snoring  will  be  less  troublesome;  for  the  inxoluntary 


POINTERS  28S 

nervous  system  not  exhausted  with  the  heavy  work* 
of  handling  a  hearty  meal  will  be  toned  up  so  that  it 
will   hold   the  mouth   shut  and   thus   prevent   snoring. 

Quantity  of  Food  Required. 

This  all  depends  on  the  person,  size,  weight,  occu-" 
pation    and    temperament,    and    general    state    of    the' 
health,  and  how  it  is  eaten.    Most  people  eat  too  much 
by  at  least  one-third.     The   man  working  with  brain 
and  muscle  eight  or  ten  hours  out  of  twenty-four,  can" 
use  more  than  the  man  who  sits  at  the  desk  all  day. 
Brain  work  is  more  wearing  than  physical  labor,  and 
in  order  to  handle  the  amount  of  food  necessary,  the' 
brain  worker  must  put  in  at  least  two  or  three  hours' 
of  moderate  all  around  exercise  every  day. 

Physical  activity  enables  the  body  to  care  success-' 
fully  for  a  larger  auKnint  i>f  food  than  the  sedentary 
man  can  safely  use. 

Children  ten  to  fourteen  require  about  as  much  food 
as  adults  if  they  are  kept  busy. 

If  the   entire   family  is  trained   to  deliberation   and 
joyfulness  at  the  table  the  bodily  wants  will  be  fully 
met  by  a  less  quantity  of  food  well  chewed  and  taken" 
with    cheerfulness.      Most    people    need    to   curb   their 
appetites  lest  they  eat  too  much. 

It  is  safe  to  say  that  from  twenty-four  to  forty- 
eight  ounces  per  day.  of  any  solid  food  is  sutTicient  for 
the  average  person  if  he  has  been  trained  into  proper 
mastication  of  the  food,  and  proper  drinking  habits. 
Hard  labor  would  make  a  larger  amount  necessary  in. 
some  cases. 


286         ESSENTIALS    TO     LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

How  to  Eat. 

Bring  home  to  your  meals  the  best  news  you  can 
get,  the  best  and  most  interesting  stories,  the  best 
and  most  hopeful  plans  and  everything  to  make  all 
the  family  glad  you  came  to  dinner.  A  moderate  mix- 
ture of  good  hearty  laughter  shakes  up  the  digestive 
organs  and  is  better  for  an  hour  after  meals  than 
any  after  dinner  pills.  Don't  be  in  a  hurry  with  each 
mouthful.  Take  time ;  you'll  get  more  strength  and 
comfort  out  of  a  mouthful  well  chewed  and  insalivated 
than  out  of  two  mouthfuls  swallowed  whole,  beside 
you  are  liable  to  get  some  distress  out  of  the  two 
mouthfuls.  Better  eat  half  as  much  when  very  weary 
than  to  take  a  full  meal.  You  will  feel  better  in  the 
morning. 

Light  suppers  of  rice  and  cream  or  fruits ;  or  of 
corn  or  oatmeal  or  graham  gruel  and  fruit  or  graham 
crackers ;  or  baked  potatoes  and  cream  with  good 
bread  and  butter;  any  such  kinds  and  combinations 
will  insure  a  better  night's  rest  than  a  full  meal  of 
hearty  foods.  Let  the  heavy  meal  be  taken  either 
in  the  morning  or  between  noon  and  three  P.  M. 
He  who  eats  light  suppers  will  ha\e  an  appetite  for 
breakfast. 

Peanut  Butter. 

Don't  be  deceived  into  thinking  this  or  any  other 
specially  i)rc|)ared  nut  food  is  essential  to  life.  Ueally 
peanuts  are  not  nuts  at  all.  If  you  are  going  to  eat 
them  you  had  better  grind  them  in  your  own  mill. 
Any  nuts  well  chewed  and  insalivated  will  digest 
twice  as  well  as  any  conglonu-ration  of  prepared  nuts 


POINTERS  287 

that   were   ever  put  on  the   market.     We  have  been 
throuoh  the  experience. 

Mushes. 

J^on't  be  afraid  of  mushes,  just  because  some  one 
who  has  dry  prepared  foods  to  sell  cries  them  down. 
If  mushes  are  well  cooked,  say  for  one  hour,  and  eaten 
slowly  with  a  little  dry  food  to  chew  on  and  no  yeast 
bread  eat^n  with  them,  not  one  person  in  twenty  will 
suffer  any  special  harm  from  them.  Yeast  germs  are 
tenfold  more  harmful  than  any  w^ell  cooked  mushes. 
Those  who  just  now  are  running  all  to  dry  diet  seem 
to  forget  that  God  puts  up  a  large  share  of  the  best 
human  aliment  in  a  very  juicy  form.  How  about  the 
fruits  and  green  foods.  We  believe  in  dry  foods  too, 
but  don't  let  any  of  us  get  one-sided.  Good  graham 
mush  has  cured  thousands  of  cases  of  constipation  in 
by-gone  days.  The  highly  dextrinized  food  products 
are  bringing  back  intestinal  slowness  for  those  who 
are  unwise  enough  to  confine  themselves  to  them 
exclusively.  There  is  no  design  back  of  this,  we  have 
no  mush  to  sell.  Do  not,  however,  undertake  to  live 
on  mushes. 

Highly  Dextrinized  Foods. 

Starches  which  have  been  subjected  to  a  high  degree 
of  dry  heat  for  a  long  time  until  thoroughly  browned 
are  partly  changed  into  dextrin,  which  is  one  step 
nearer  the  sugar  form,  into  which  the  starch  is  finally 
changed  by  the  process  of  digestion. 

This  dextrinized  starch  is  changed  to  sugar  by  the 
saliva.     If  the  starch  is  eaten   without  being  dextrin- 


288  ESSENTIALS    TO    LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

ized,  the  work  of  chaiif^ing-  to  sugar  is  carried  forward 
to  the  intestines. 

Now  while  this  process  of  dextrinizing  is  a  good 
thing'  for  a  time,  for  a  few  cases  of  weak  stomach 
digestion ;  if  long  continued  on  the  part  of  anyone  it 
will  result  in  bowel  inactivity,  just  because  the  burden 
of  work  has  been  taken  ofif  the  bowels.  Already  in 
some  institutions  where  dextrinization  has  become  a 
fad,  they  are  furnishing  their  patients  with  high  priced, 
specially  prepared,  scientific  laxatives  to  'meet  the 
demands  of  the  situation.  If  people  would  leave  the 
yeast  germs  out  of  their  breads  there  would  be  lit- 
tle or  no  excuse  for  making  zweiback,  which  is  the 
name  for  dextrinized  bread.  If  people  must  make 
yeast  bread  they  can  destroy  the  germs  out  of  the 
bread  by  long  baking.  (See  Sterilization  of  Bread  in 
this  Chapter.) 

It  is  these  yeast  germs  that  do  most  of  the  harm 
in  the  stomach.  Leaving  out  this  ofifending  material 
from  the  stomach  and  toning  it  into  activity  with  vi- 
bratory breathing  and  other  kindred  remedies,  seems 
more  reasonable  than  disabling  another  part  of  the 
alimentary  canal  by  taking  away  the  necessity  for  its 
activity.  Over  cooking  the  food  is  no  advantage  to  a 
fairly  comfortable  stomach. 

Raw  foods,  even  grains  like  wheat  flakes  and  oat 
flakes,  arc  proving  to  be  a  good  thing  in  many  cases 
of  stomach  and  bowel  difficulty.  But  not  every  one 
should  try  to  make  their  full  bill  of  fare  from  raw 
foods.  There  is  a  medium  ground  that  is  safest.  Some 
cases  of  slow  intestinal  digestion  should  take  some 
raw  wheat  ilakes  or  practically  raw  wdieat  bran  daily 
for  a  few  weeks  if  the  stomach  is  fairlv  strong.  Again 


POINTERS  289 

it  the  stomach  is  weak  it  may  be  best  and  necessary, 
to  help  out  its  work  of  digestion  for  a  brief  tim-e  with 
dextrinized  foods ;  but  damage  is  ahnost  sure  to  result 
if  long  continued  without  some  foods  that  require 
special  bowel   digestion. 

Rest  the  stomach  from  the  burden  of  working  over 
mixtures  of  food;  practice,  five  minutes  out  of  every 
hour,  rapid  breathing  exercises,  and  make  a  business 
of  it  for  a  time  after  retiring  and  before  rising;  take 
massage,  or  mechanical  vibration,  or  gentle  horseback 
riding;  use  sun  baths  to  the  stomach  and  abdomen; 
try  hot  and  cold  alternations  over  the  stomach;  attend 
to  the  advice  concerning  the  treatment  of  dyspepsia 
and  you  will  not  need  to  distress  yourself  over  your 
stomach  conditions.  A  little  zweiback  for  a  part  of 
the  meal  will  not  hurt  you,  but  don't  try  to  live  on  it. 
Use  some  foods  that  will  require  bowel  activity.  And 
after  you  have  done  the  best  you  know  all  around, 
give  your  mind  a  rest  and  endeavor  to  be  so  peaceful 
that  general  quietness  will  take  possession  of  your 
entire  being.  And  don't  use  up  your  vital  energies 
worrying  about  your  case.  Just  be  as  happy  as  you 
can  be ;  and  be  happ}^  anyway. 

Regularity. 

The  sun  rises  and  sets  and  the  seasons  return  with 
unvarying  regularity.  The  earth  fields  its  fruitage  at 
uniformly  recurring  periods.  The  healthy  human  heart 
beats  and  the  diaphragm  acts  rhythmically.  If  we 
want  to  be  in  harmony  with  our  environment  we 
should  adopt  regular  habits  in  all  things.  The  time 
of  sleeping  should  be  observed  closely,  and  the  time 
of  the  meals  should  not  varv  bevond  a  few  minutes. 


290  ESSENTIALS    TO    LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

There  should  be  stated  times  for  doing  the  nn)st  of 
onr  drinking.  These  arc  matters  of  great  importance, 
both  for  physical  health  and  for  mental  and  moral 
discipline.  There  is  much  complaint  in  these  days 
from  civilized  men  and  women  that  they  cannot  con- 
trol their  thoughts.  It  is  the  writer's  opinion  that 
this  comes  largely  from  irregularity  in  physical  habits. 
The  railroads,  the  steamship  lines,  the  mail  service 
and  everything  of  consequence  in  this  world  runs 
with,  or  attempts  to  run,  with  regularity.  Men  have 
to  keep  their  appointments  or  fall  out  of  the  line.  So 
in  our  daily  habits,  we  should  so  shape  our  daily  con- 
duct that  we  have  a  set  time  for  every  meal,  a  set 
time  for  retiring  and  rising,  set  times  for  taking  a 
full  drink  of  water,  and  set  times  for  attending  to 
nature's  calls.  Then  the  life  forces  and  cells  that  take 
care  of  the  body  will  be  able  to  work  with  precision 
and  without  disappointment.  The  man  who  works 
with  his  brain  must  have  regular  times  for  physical 
recuperation;  and  the  man  who  labors  with  his  mus- 
cles should  have  time  for  mental  discipline  and  recrea- 
tion. The  bodily  functions  must  be  kept  well  bal- 
anced, then  will  the  health  be  on  an  c(]uilibrium  and 
life  will   run   smoothly. 

Salt 

Use  it  moderately.  The  surgeons  have  found  out 
tliat  a  solution  of  a  teaspoonful  to  a  pint,  using  dis- 
tilled water,  (called  normal  salt  solution,)  may  be 
injected  into  the  blood  and  save  the  patient's  life  in 
bad  cases  of  bleeding  and  anemia.  The  patient  re- 
vives promptly.  Large  quantities  hinder  digestion 
and  high  authorities  say  that  it  produces  gout,  taken 


POINTERS  291 

excessively.  The  writer  has  seen  the  incipient  stages 
of  gout  disappear  just  in  a  few  days,  in  a  patient  who 
had  been  greatly  addicted  to  salt,  when  the  salt  was 
discarded ;  and  seen  it  return  again  when  the  salt 
was  used  freely.  Tiie  base  of  the  salt  is  sodium  which 
may  sometimes  be  taken  out  of  the  gouty  ulcers  on  the 
small  joints  nearest  the  nails.  Salt  is  purely  an  anti- 
septic. It  evidently,  like  other  minerals,  cannot  be 
built  into  the  body  tissues.  The  sodium  of  the  bones 
like  the  calcium  and  other  mineral  elements  must  be 
drawn  from  organized  vegetable  structures.  Taken 
in  large  quantities  salt  becomes  an  irritant.  In  normal 
solution  it  must  be  considered  as  a  germicide,  and  used 
in  very  moderate  quantities  it  acts  as  an  antiseptic 
in  the  human  system  and  "aids  in  the  production  of 
hydrochloric  acid  in  the  stomach."  So  says  Dr.  Emery 
in  "Life  and  Health." 

Tea  Drinking. 

The  maimer  in  which  the  Chinese  and  Japanese 
drink  tea.  furnishes  no  manner  of  excuse  whatever 
for  the  way  it  is  used  in  civilized  lands.  From  the 
personal  testimimy  of  man}'  who  have  been  in  tliose 
countries  for  years,  not  more  than  one-fifth  the  amount 
of  tea  ])er  capita,  is  used  there  that  is  consumed  in 
h^ngland  and  America.  History  does  not  reveal  the 
time  wluMi  these  nations  did  not  sterilize  (boil)  all 
their  drinking  water,  and  all  they  use  tea  for,  gen- 
erally, is  to  gi\e  tlie  water  the  slightest  flavor.  Their 
tea  has  1)ut  the  palest  straw  color,  so  they  do  not  .get 
the  drug  effect  that  we  are  ac(|uainted  with.  These 
facts  remove  the  oriental  argument  in  la\or  of  tea 
drinking  that  has  been  used  in  America  and   iCngland. 


292  ESSENTIALS    TO    LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

Hot  Water  Drinking. 

You  may  not  be  able  to  wash  away  the  bad  habits 
of  living",  but  you  may  wash  away  many  of  the  severe 
aches  and  pains  by  a  free  internal  use  of  hot  water  on 
rising  and  retiring  and  when  in  pain.  It  is  better, 
more  thorough  and  almost  as  quick  as  sedative  drugs ; 
sometimes  much  quicker  and  always  safer. 

Flavoring  the  Water. 

The  stomach  will  often  take  care  of  much  more 
fluid  if  it  is  flavored  with  lemon  or  orange  or  other 
fruit  juices  or  some  aromatic  herb  which  appeals  to 
,  the  taste.  Water  charged  with  carbonic  acid  gas  is 
on  this  account  often  very  useful.  The  question  of 
taste  has  something  to  do  with  the  absorption  of 
water  as  well  as  the  digestion  of  food. 

Hard  Water. 

Water  which  contains  enough  mineral  matter  so 
that  soap  will  form  "curds"  in  it,  is  commonly  called 
"hard  water."  The  most  common  mineral  element 
found  in  hard  water  is  carbonate  of  lime.  Water  is 
composed  of  hydrogen  and  oxygen.  The  human  body 
is  about  four-fifths  water.  As  in  the  air,  the  oxygen 
combines  with  the  blood  in  the  lungs  and  helps  to  pre- 
pare it  to  fully  nourish  the  body,  so  the  same  element 
in  the  water  is  the  oxidizer  and  dissolver  of  the  min- 
eral elements,  the  salts,  in  the  food  which  are  used 
in  sustaining  the  bones,  teeth,  nails  and  hair.  .\ow 
if  the  oxygen  has  exhausted  its  resolvent  properties 
on  mineral  elements  in  the  soil  before  it  is  taken  into 
the  bod}^  how  can  the  work  of  preparing  these  food 
elements    l)e    properl)-    carried    on?    All    the    digestive 


POINTERS  293 

tluids"  hiwc.  to  l)e  prepared  from  tlie  water.  It  is  said 
l>y  some  that  the  saliva  flows  more  freely  when  one 
drinks  "hard"  water.  No  wonder.  The  sailva  is  a 
slijj^htly  alkaline  fluid.  It  certainly  will  require  more 
of  it  to  "break"  the  lime  in  the  hard  water  and  thus 
get  rid  of  this  unusable  material.  It  remains  yet  to  be 
demonstrated  that  the  body  can  take  up  and  assimi- 
late as  building  material,  any  mineral  elements  before 
they  have  been  transformed  into  vegetable  cell  struc- 
ture. Until  this  is  proven  assertions  about  the  value 
of  minerals  in  water,  except  as  antiseptics,  are  vain. 

Several  very  distressing  and  destructive  diseases 
are  due  directly  to  the  use  of  hard  water.  One  of  them 
is  stone  in  the  bladder,  commonly  called  gravel;  an- 
other is  renal  calculus,  stone  in  the  kidney.  Both  these 
diseases  arc  unknmvu  among  those  who  have  always 
lived  in  soft  water  countries.  Another  trouble  which 
forms  the  commencement  for  apoplexy,  hardening  or 
the  arteries  and  veins,  called  arterio  sclerosis,  is  almost 
unknown  in  strictly  soft  water  districts.  The  writer 
has  been  conversant  with  a  section  of  Oswego  County, 
New  York  State,  where  this  fact  has  been  abundantly 
demonstrated.  l->iug  adjacent  to  one  another  are 
some  five  or  six  townships  all  but  one  of  which  have 
nothing  but  soft  water,  both  in  wells  and  springs. 
The  other  township  lies  lower,  in  the  limestone  belt, 
and  has  nothing  but  hard  water. 

For  the  last  fifty  years  there  have  been  but  ver\- 
few  cases  of  apoplexy  in  the  soft  water  district  aid 
these  happened  to  men  addicted  to  strong  drink,  it 
who  had  moved  in  from  some  hard  water  section. 
While  in  the  hard  water  township  there  have  been 
scons  of  such  cases  among  various  classes  of  |)i'ople. 


294  ESSENTIALS    TO    LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

Sonic  minerals  in  water,  say  a  little  salt  or  sulphur 
may.  and  do  act  as  antiseptics  in  the  body.  So  whether 
these  can  be  assimilated  or  not  makes  no  difiference 
as  long'  as  the}'  can  do  no  harm  in  small  quantities, 
and  ])Ositively  do  inhibit  germ  growths. 

Substitutes  for  Coffee  and  Tea. 

Thoroughly  brown,  wheat,  rye,  barley,  corn  or  rice. 
Use  this  instead  of  the  commercial  article,  boiling  it 
a  little  more.  All  the  food  cofifees  and  package  sub- 
stitutes are  mostly  made  of  wheat  bran  and  molasses, 
rve  and  barley.  Alv  mother,  and  scores  of  other  good 
housewives,  made  them  while  Kellogg,  the  Caramel 
Cereal  promoter,  was  still  a  boy  and  a  long  time  be- 
fore Post  began  to  get  rich  with  Postum  Cereal.  Com- 
pare the  cost.     Try  ])ure  water  for  awhile. 

The  Buttermilk  Fad. 

I'uttermilk,  or  common  sour  milk  contains  certain 
acid  producing  germs  that  are  capable  of  destroying 
nearly  all  the  disease  producing  germs  commonly 
Ifumd  in  the  intestinal  tract.  ^^\>  do  not  feel  clear 
yet  to  sa}  that  the}-  will  destroy  germs  of  tuberculosis, 
wliich  iniglit  be  ftnuul  in  the  same  milk.  Just  now, 
this  kind  of  milk  is  being  prescribed  as  almost  a  cure 
lor  eyerything.  Some  expensiye  ferments  under  new, 
mysterious,  it  not  eui)honious  names,  are  being  recom- 
mended and  sold.  They  are  said  to  produce  just  the 
right  kind  of  acid  conditions  in  the  milk.  W^e  cannot 
see  why  lactic  acid  from  Bulgaria,  or  with  a  Bulgarian 
name,  should  be  in  any  way  superior  to  that  produced 
!)}•  good  American  milk. 

It  is  safe  to  say  that  pnre  clean  buttermilk,  or  sour 


POINTERS  295 

milk,  made  from  sterilized  milk,  jnst  as  it  naturally 
develops,  is  every  way  as  good  as  any  that  can  be 
produced  by  any  artificial  process. 

Expensive  luxuries  sometimes  ease  the  mind  with- 
out, in  any  way.  ministering  any  more  comfort  to  the 
body    than  common  things. 

Little  Things. 

Even  so  small  a  matter  as  the  leaxing  out  of  tea 
or  cofTee.  or  simplifying  the  diet  to  two  or  three  arti- 
cles at  a  meal,  or  breathing  a  full  supply  of  pure  air 
for  a  few  minutes  night  and  morning,  or  taking  a  cool 
sponge  bath  c^r  a  dry  hand  rul)  every  morning,  or 
even  drinking  a  single  glass  of  water  extra,  night  and 
morning;  an}'  one  of  these  or  some  other  little  things 
make  all  the  difference  sometimes  between  health  and 
sickness.  When  will  mankind  learn  that  the  little 
things  of  life  are  the  great  things? 

"According  to  My  Experience.  " 

Experience  counts  for  but  a  lillle  as  a  guide  for 
others,  unless  that  experience  has  been  moulded  by 
reason  and  judgmenl  instead  of  impulse,  l^he  shij) 
captain  trying  to  sail  his  vessel  by  impulsive  experi- 
ence, would  sail  with  the  winds  and  tides  and  wMild 
probably  go  on  the  rocks  at  last.  So  experience  guided 
by  old  appetites  and  iiupulses  is  more  than  likely  to 
be  misleading.  I'.ut  experience,  which  has  got  its 
Compass  set,  and  is  sailing  toward  port  will  i)rovc 
of  some  value  dav  by  day-  But  our  experience  in 
eating  cannot  absolutely  govern  others.  .Among  so 
many  diseased  perverted  stomachs:  what  is  food  for 
one  may  possibl\-  ])r<i\e  to  be  poison  to  another  betore 


296  ESSENTIALS    TO    LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

digestion  is  over.  Some  cannot  eat  fruit  of  any  kind. 
This  has  gone  on  until  the  entire  habit  of  the  body 
has  been  changed.  Habits  have  led  in  different  direc- 
tions; in  all  ways  but  the  right  one  with  few  excep- 
tions, so  no  one  can  be  a  safe  criterion  for  all  others. 
The  thing  to  be  done  is  to  master  the  principles  and 
shape  our  habits  after  them  ;  then  our  experience  will 
have  some  value. 

Uric  Acid  and  Fruits. 

We  find  a  sentiment  quite  prevalent  that  there  is 
danger  of  uric  acid  injury  from  eating  fruits  like 
tomatoes  and  strawberries.  Now  we  want  to  say 
emphatically,  that  there  is  no  more  relationship  be- 
tween fruit  acids  and  uric  acid  than  there  is  between 
buttermilk  acids  and  carbolic  acid.  Uric  acid  is  found 
to  exist  freely  in  flesh,  and  is  developed  in  the  diges- 
tion of  such  foods  as  peas  and  beans,  to  a  moderate 
extent.  Some  other  highly  nitrogenous  foods  also 
yield  a  small  amount.  But  there  is  none  in  fruit. 
While  some  people  cannot  eat  fruit  because  of  some 
peculiar  conditions  in  the  stomach,  others  may  eat 
fniit  with  meats  and  hinder  the  digestion  of  the  meats, 
and  thus  interfere  with  the  entire  digestive  process, 
and  prevent  the  disposal  of  the  uric  acid,  and  thereby 
induce  a  "slight  attack  of  neuralgia  or  rheumatism ; 
but  the  fruit  is  not  to  blame.  It  is  the  meat  or  the 
mixture  that  is  to  be  avoided. 

Assurance. 

When  a  case  needs  assurance,  and  there  are  very 
few  that  do  not,  there  is  nothing  on  earth  will  take 
the  place  of  it.     The  doctor  and  nurse  may  look  wise 


POINTERS  297 

and  give  medicine,  or  massage,  or  electricity,  Init 
all  will  be  vain  unless  the  confidence  and  hope  is 
restored.  A  little  positive  assurance  is  worth  more 
in  many  cases  than  all  the  other  remedies  ever  used. 
A  physician  is  justified  sometimes  in  giving  full  as- 
surance, even  when  he  sees  T)Ut  little  hope  for  his 
patient ;  for  sometimes  the  only  thing  that  will  save 
the  patient  after  all  the  other  remedies  have  been  used 
is  a  calm  frame  of  mind,  and  this  comes  only  through 
full  assurance  of  belief  in  something. 


't>' 


Nature's  Calls. 

Never  for  one  niomcnt  refuse  to  listen  to  nature's 
calls.  Failure  to  heed  this  counsel  has  been  the  be- 
ginning of  the  ways  of  death  to  many.  Have  an  ap- 
pointment and  keep  it. 

The  Depurating  System. 

The  purifying  apparatus  will  do  its  full  share  of 
work  without  the  lash  of  stimulation,  if  no  more  of  the 
right  kind  of  fluid  is  put  into  the  body  than  it  requires 
and   the   diaphragm   is   kept   wiirking. 

Exercise. 

In  almost  every  diseased  condition  of  the  body, 
except  fevers  and  blood  poisoning,  the  circulation 
should  be  stirred  into  activity,  either  locally  or  gen- 
erally by  voluntary  exercise,  or  massage,  or  by  alter- 
nate heat  and  cold  or  electricity.  In  some  cases  the 
body  may  rc(|uire  rest  while  the  part  in  trouble  will 
need   stirring   up. 


20 


298  ESSENTIALS    TO    LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

Precautions  for  the  Night. 

First  of  all  be  sure  to  have  good  close  screens  for 
all  the  doors  and  windows.  On  retiring  in  warm 
weather  see  that  there  is  a  good  free  full  circulation 
of  air  all  through  the  sleeping  apartments  and  the 
house  generally.  This  cools  the  house  down  so  that 
it  can  be  comparatively  closed  up  against  the  heat 
of  the  coming  day.  But  do  not  have  your  beds  stand- 
ing in  a  current  or  draft  of  air.  It  is  liable  to  subject 
you  to  enough  exposure  to  produce  colds  or  coughs. 
When  one  who  is  weary  becomes  partially  exposed 
to  a  cooler  current  of  air  than  is  comfortable  it  ex- 
hausts vitality  unnecessarily.  When  the  cooler  sea- 
son advances  you  should  still  make  sure  of  free  xgw- 
tilation,  but  be  sure  to  keep  out  of  the  drafts. 

For  those  who  are  apt  to  sleep  with  their  arms  out 
from  under  the  covers,  it  Avill  be  wise  to  have  a  good 
thick  sleeved  garment  for  the  arms  and  top  of  the 
shoulders.  For  most  seasons  the  night-robe  should 
be  of  double  thickness  over  the  parts  of  the  shoulders 
most  liable  to  exposure.  These  cautions,  if  obser\-ed, 
may  help  to  save  3'OU  from  continuous  attacks  of 
catarrh  or  from  an  attack  of  influenza  or  pneumonia. 
Pure  air  you  must  have  or  suffer  serious  loss,  but  it 
is  not  necessary  to  expose  the  surface  of  any  portion 
of  the  body  for  the  sake  of  securing  the  air  supply. 

The  harm  is  not  so  much  in  the  drafts  of  air  as  in 
the  exposure  of  some  imaccustomed  parts  to  the  extra 
coolness  of  the  latter  part  of  the  night  when  the 
body  is  busiest  at  its  work  of  general  repair,  "^""ou 
can  sleep  out  of  doors  if  the  surface  of  the  body  and 
extremities  are  well  protected  and  be  the  better  for 
it.     The  point  is  to  keep  an  even  distribution  of  the 


POINTERS  299 

circulation  to  every  part  of  the  body  and  at  the  same 
time  secure  a  full  unlimited  supply  of  pure  air  for 
the  use  of  the  lungs  while  the  great  recuperative  and" 
rebuilding  processes  are  going  on.  Don't  be  so  afraid 
of  drafts  that  you  will  shut  out  the  "awful  night  air," 
hut  he  stirred  up  to  evenly  protect  the  body  in  all  its 
parts  (luring  its  most  defenseless  hours. 

All  this  bugaboo  about  night  air  is  an  old  chronic 
whim  that  ought  to  be  dismissed  by  all  thoughtfu) 
people.  Follow  the  suggestion  given  here  and  "night 
air"  will  be  a  blessing  to  you. 

'I'he  mouth  must  be  kept  closed  if  necessary  by  a 
chin  cap,  to  prevent  snoring.  This  will  be  less  neces- 
sary if  no  supper  is  taken  or  at  least  oidy  a  very  light 
meal  of  sinrple  food  indulged  at  night.  If  you  load 
up  the  body  at  night  with  a  full  meal,  you  may  clog 
the  system  with  sufficient  waste  to  give  you  a  \-ery 
had  cold  before  morning,  especially  if  you  shouht 
be  subjected  to  some  degree  of  exposure. 

Breathing  as  a  Stimulus  to  Digestion. 

X  most  important  anatomical  fact  helps  us  to  un- 
derstand the  effect  oi  dia])hragm  gymnastics  on  the 
action  of  the  stomach.  A  single  bundle  of- nerve  fibers, 
the  Pneumogastric,  controls  both  the  lungs  and 
stomach.  .\ow.  whenever  the  brain  centers  are  stimu; 
lated  or  energized  by  proi)er  breathing  exercise,  it  is 
easy  to  understand  how  that  portion  of  the  nerve 
which  controls  the  stomach  is  also  energized.  There 
is  a  similar  relationship  between  the  action  of  con- 
\ergence  and  accommodation  in  the  eyes.  The  same 
nerve,  called  the  third  nerve,  shapes  the  lens  of  the 
eve  for  close  work  and  also  draws  the  eves  toirether  so 


800         EiSSENTIAtvS    TO    LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

that  both  may  be  focused  on  any  near  object,  so  that 
when  focusing  power  is  interfered  with,  convergence 
is  disturbed. 

'  It  is  a  most  wonderful  fact  to  the  writer  that  the 
fiinction  of  breathing  should  be  thus  related  to  the 
iVork  of  digestion.  It  suggests  to  him  that  more  at- 
tention should  now  be  given  to  the  use  of  the  breath- 
ing muscles.  We  have  had  years  of  talk  about  eating 
but  it  remains  a  fact  that  good  food  will  not  digest 
well  without  the  stimulus  of  natural  breathing;  while 
poor  foods,  hard  of  digestion,  may  be  disposed  of 
without  immediately  seriously  consequences  if  proper 
attention  is  paid  to  the  breathing.  Witness  how  the 
Wood-chopper  or  coal  heaver  can  digest  broadside 
^ork.  He  tugs  and  toils  and  breathes  and  sweats,  and 
many  times  suffers  no  marked  inconvenience  from  his 
(ood.  But  this  is  no  argument  in  favor  of  pork  or 
other  bad  foods ;  it  only  shows  the  importance  of 
breathing  and  other  exercises  which  stimulate  diges- 
tion. 

The  writer  presents  the  foregoing  suggestions  con- 
cerning the  Pneumogastric  nerve  not  as  a  proven  fact 
biit  as  a  hypothesis  of  his  own,  holding  no  one  re- 
sponsible for  it.  Some  scientist  will  yet  demonstrate 
!its  truth  or  falsity.  It  certainly  can  do  no  harm. 
Breathing  does  stimulate  digestion.  ^Vhether  by  ner- 
vous or  mechanical  stimulus,  or  both,  it  does  not  so 
much  matter. 

Exhalation  Tube. 

One  may  be  improvised  by  using  a  piece  of  clay 
pipe  stem  or  any  very  small  tube,  or  you  can  pur- 
chase one  for  twenty-five  cents.     Take  a  full  breath 


POINTERS  301 

and  blow  out  through  it  tirnily  and  steadily  until  that 
breath  is  exhausted.  Repeat  several  times  in  a  fevu 
minutes.  This  is  a  splendid  exercise  to  strengthen  thie 
muscles  of  the  breathing  organs.  Reverse  the  process 
drawing  in  the  breath  quite  vigorously  through  the 
tube.  To  develop  the  vocal  cords,  take  a  full  breath, 
then  take  some  musical  tone  and  spend  the  breath  on. 
this  musical  tone,  holding  the  tone  as  long  and  steadily, 
as  possible.  This  will  smooth  up  the  vocal  cords  giv-t 
ing  them  strength  and  vigor.  This  is  indispensible 
in  voice  culture.  '        \ 

Don't  Try  to  be  a  Hero. 

There    is    no   virtue    in    trying   to    make   a    hero   or 
heroine  of  yourself  by  taking  your  cool  baths  in   a. 
cold   room.     The   cool   bath   is   all   right   if   the   room 
is  warm  and  the  bath  not  too  cold  or  long  continued., 

Don't  Soak  too  Much. 

Learn  to  do  things  right  and  get  the  benefit.  One 
or  two  good  full  baths  per  week  beside  the  morning" 
sponge  or  the  dry  rub  are  enough  for  health.  If  your 
patient  is  feeble  don't  think  that  he  must  have  heavy 
treatment  or  even  full  treatments  daily.  All  thorough 
treatments  use  up  some  vitality.  Use  gentle  measures 
and  give  Nature  a  chance.  Rest,  gentle  breathing  ex- 
ercises, and  care  about  food  and  water  are  always' 
in  order.  Beyond  these  efforts  be  careful  i>\  fecblei 
patients.     Dun't   gi\e  them   too  much. 

Changing  from  a  Cold  to  a  Hot  Atmosphere. 

Oon't  come  \  ery  suddenly   from  a  very   low  leiuper-' 
ature.  say   below  zero  into  a  heated  rt)oni.     You   ard 


302         ESSENTIALS    TO    LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

just  as  liable  to  take  cold  as  you  would  be  if  you  re- 
versed the  process.  The  sudden  influx  of  hot  air  into 
the  lungs,  may  be  so  debilitating  and  weakening  to  the 
mucous  membranes  of  the  lungs  and  throat,  as  to  pro- 
duce a  severe  congestion.  Step  from  the  cold  into  a 
more  moderate  room  and  stay  a  short  time  before 
entering  the  hot  room.  It  is  unsafe  to  keep  the  tem- 
perature of  living  rooms  above  70.  If  the  feet  are 
kept   warm    a   lower   temperature    will   be    pleasan»^er. 

Protection  When  Reclining. 

When  you  lie  down  whether  to  rest  for  a  brief  time 
or  to  take  a  midday  nap  always  cover  up  with  at  least 
a  light  blanket,  not  enough,  however,  in  warm  weather, 
to  produce  perspiration.  This  precaution  becomes  nec- 
essary because  the  heart  beat  is  lessened  about  eight 
to  twelve  beats  per  minute,  when  we  assume  a  hor- 
izontal position,  and  there  is  a  corresponding  lessen- 
ing of  heat  production.  So  the  protection  suggested 
prevents  one  taking  cold. 

Exposure  When  Weary. 

The  man  who  comes  in  from  a  day  of  severe  ex- 
ercise and,  after  the  evening  meal,  leans  back  in  his 
chair  against  the  side  of  the  room  that  is  exposed  to 
the  cold  weather,  with  nothing  over  his  shoulders 
but  the  damp  shirt  he  has  worn  through  the  day  will 
stand  all  the  chances  of  a  very  severe  cold  in  the  lungs 
or  bronchi.  Always  put  a  heavy  coat  on  in  the  cold 
e\enings,  especially  after  a  wearing  day's  work.  Bet- 
ter repeat  the  always  for  all  people  at  all  seasons,  and 
don't  lean  back  against  a  cold  outside  wall  or  sit  un- 


POINTERS  303 

der  even  a  closed  window.     There  is  no  demand  for 
such  exposure  and  no  good  excuse  for  it. 

Snuffling  Cats  or  Dogs. 

Keep  snuffling-  cats  and  dogs  out  of  the  house  and 
away  from  the  family.  This  will  save  the  household 
from  serious  attacks  of  throat  and  nasal  troubles.  No 
mistake  about  this. 

Little  and  Often. 

This  is  the  law  of  exercise  for  the  weak. 

Here  is  an  Old  One. 

How  to  keep  from  being  thirsty.  "Always  drink  just 
before  you  are  dry." 

How  to  Stop  a  Hacking  Cougfi. 

A  hacking  cough  that  makes  life  miserable  may  be 
greatly  relieved  for  the  night  by  the  heating  compress 
about  the  throat,  by  sipping  a  cup  of  very  hot  drink, 
or  by  using  an  inhalation  made  of  equal  parts  of 
menthol  crystals  and  camphor  gum  and  half  as  much 
eucalyptus  oil.  Wet  a  small  piece  of  thin  cotton  with 
ten  or  fifteen  drops  of  this  fluid.  Place  this  to  your 
nose  with  a  light  handkerchief  thrown  over  your  face 
and  head.  Your  cough  will  cease  and  you  will  go  to 
sleep  before  you  know  it  and  have  a  good  night's  rest. 
To  make  absolutely  certain,  try  all  three  remedies. 
'['liis  iiilialation  may  be  used  in  any  inhaler.  ' 

Oil  Rubs. 

For  the  thin  bloodless  person  whose  liver  antl  in- 
testines are  slow  and  whose  feet  and  hands  are  cold 


304         ESSENTIALS    TO    LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

in  damp  chilly  weather,  ai  oil  mib  every  morning"  will 
prove  a  great  blessing.  Such  people  should  not  think 
that  they  can  soak  health  into  themselves  by  a  course 
of  baths.  A  good  bath  once  or  twice  a  week  will 
be  all  that  is  necessary  for  such,  while  the  stout 
plethoric  one  will  find  it  to  his  advantage  to  take 
all  the  baths  he  has  time  for. 

Sense  of  Weight  at  the  Stomach. 

If  you  waken  with  a  sense  as  of  a  "stone"  or  a 
"chunk"  at  the  pit  of  the  stomach,  just  work  it  off  b>' 
practicing  diaphragm  gymnastics  for  five  or  ten  min- 
utes. Then  study  to  prevent  the  condition  returning". 
Quite  likely  it  was  a  big  late  composite  supper  that 
caused  it.  Perhaps  you  were  tired  out  when  you  ate 
your  evening  meal.  It  may  be  the  free  use.  of  meats, 
especially  pork.  The  solar  plexus  tliat  has  charge 
of  the  digestive  organs  is  tired,     dive  it  a  rest. 

Soap. 

That  soap  is  best  and  safest  which  can  be  used 
the  longest  time  continuously  without  damage.  No 
first  class  laundr}^  soap  will  damage  the  skin.  Wit- 
ness how  long  the  washer-woman  keeps  her  hands  in 
the  suds.  The  manufacturers  study  diligently  topro- 
duce  a  soap  that  will  not  injure  the  skin.  W  hen  a  soap 
does  damage  to  the  hands,  the  people  reject  it  at  once. 
Most  toilet  soaps,  tho  highly  scented  and  highly  priced, 
are  not  as  good  for  toilet  use  as  the  old  standard  rosin 
washing  soaps.  In  them  we  have  an  unfailing"  germi- 
cide.    r>ut  there  are  good  toilet  soaps. 


POINTERS  305 

Examination  for  Glasses. 

Are  you  a  nervous,  thin  bloodless  person?  Do  your 
eyes  trouble  you?  Are  you  going  to  the  optometrist 
or  oculist  to  get  your  eyes  tested  for  glasses?  Just 
drink  all  the  water  you  can  for  a  day  or  two  in  ad- 
vance. Your  blood  will  flow  better,  your  nerves  will 
be  steadier,  you  will  have  less  spasm  in  the  eye,  and 
you  will  get  a  much  better  fit. 

How  to  Blow  the  Nose. 

Teach  the  children  to  clear  the  nose  of  phlegm  by 
covering  only  one  nostril  at  a  time.  This  will  very 
much  lessen  the  chance  of  forcing  catarrhal  matter 
back  through  the  eustachian  ttibes  into  the  middle  ear, 
which  is.  very  likely  to  happen  if  both  nostrils  are 
held  in  the  effort  to  increase  the  expulsive  power. 

How  to  Empty  the  Cavity  of  the  Middle  Ear. 

This  is  a  very  simple  procedure  but  not  so  easy  as 
forcing  air  into  them.  Most  any  one  can  make  the 
ears  "crack"  by  holding  the  nostrils  and  making  a 
strong  expulsive  effort.  Btit  it  is  a  very  bad  practice. 
Now  to  learn  how  to  clear  the  ears  and  tubes  perform 
the  act  of  swallowing  slowly  a  few  times,  taking  care 
to  notice  that  in  the  act  the  throat  first  shuts  up  close, 
and  then  as  the  act  ends  it  drops  down  to  place.  Now 
you  arc  ready,  swallow  and  when  the  throat  is  shut 
up  seize  the  nose,  holding  both  nostrils  tightly  and 
keeping  the  mouth  closed,  endeavor  to  let  the  throat 
drop  again  into  position,  that  is  to  finish  the  act  of 
swallowing.  This  has  a  tendency  to  produce  a  vacuum 
in  the  throat,  and  it  ])ulls  hard  on  the  tubes  going  into 
the    middle    ear.      This    draws    out    the    phlegm    and 


306         ESSENTIALS    TO    LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

catarrhal  matter,  and  will  help  to  prevent  catarrhal 
deafness.  This  is  a  new  procedure  and  worthy  of  in- 
vestigation. Use  it  carefully.  Better  far,  than  trying 
to  stretch  the  tubes,  by  forcing  air  back  into  them 
and  with  it  more  or  less  catarrhal  matter,  after  the 
old  method  with  a  Politzer  bag.  The  writer  discovered 
this  procedure  in   1897. 

How  to  Be  Fat. 

Learn  to  live  the  best  you  can.  Put  your  mind  on 
the  business  of  improvement,  not  on  worrying  because 
you  are  scrawny.  Breathe  wisely  and  well ;  then  you 
can  eat  and  digest  very  much  more.  (Study  "Use  of 
Air  or  Breathing  as  a  Remedy.)  Work  moderately 
and  never  cross  a  bridge  until  you  come  to  it.  Starches, 
cream  and  vegetable  oils  make  fat.  Drink  half  a  glass 
of  water  every  half  hour  except  for  two  hours  during 
and  after  meals.  This  will  help  to  plump  the  body 
out.  Don't  pay  out  money  for  special  foods ;  they  are 
generally  worth  more  to  the  one  who  sells  them  than 
they  will  be  to  you.  It  is  not  what  you  eat,  but  what 
you  digest  that  makes  you  fat  and  strong;  so  breathe 
and  work  your  diaphragm  and  be  happy  whether  lean 
or  fat. 

How  to  Be  Lean. 

Eat  only  a  small  amount  of  fat-making  foods,  and 
be  severely  abstemious  generally.  Chew  long  and  well, 
before  you  swallow.  Try  the  grape  cure.  It  may  be 
modified  to  a  diet  chiefly  composed  of  fruits  and  green 
stufif.  Work  as  hard  as  you  can  endure.  Let  alone  all 
drugs  for  fat  reducing  and  don't  waste  money  on  spe- 
cial foods.     Better  be  well  and  fat  than  lean  and  sick. 


POINTERS  307 

Keep  busy.  Hard  work,  wheat  bran  and  lemonade  and 
heavy  sweating  are  worth  more  than  all  the  anti-fat 
ever  produced.  If  you  are  not  sick  let  well  enough 
alone  and  be  happy.  Perhaps  you  were  born  to  be 
stout  anyway.  Then  what  is  the  use  of  feeling  bad 
about  it.  Study  exercises  under  "Prolapse '  of  the 
Stomach." 

Physical  Training. 

Begin  with  the  breathing  exercises,  and  first  develop 
the  producing  power  of  the  laboratory  in  lungs, 
stomach,  bowels  and  liver.  It  takes  blood  to  build 
muscle,  bone  and  brain  and  nerve.  Blood  is  made  in 
the  laboratory.  No  use  to  put  yourself  into  agony 
trying  to  develop  shoulder,  arm  and  leg  muscles  until 
you  have  used  the  diaphragm  gymnastics  and  got  the 
laboratory  in  order.  This  is  the  point  of  failure  in 
most  of  the  physical  training  schools.  No  use  trying 
to  direct  the  vital  forces  in  the  blood  to  any  part  of 
the  body,  until  you  have  ]:»egun  to  develop  those  forces. 

The  chest,  waist  line  and  abdomen  must  receive 
especial  attention.  This  is  where  the  vital  organs 
are  located.  Here  is  where  you  live.  If  you  are 
strong  here  you  w  ill  be  strong,  generally.  When  you 
have  developed  strength  in  lungs,  stomach,  liver  and 
spleen,  then  you  can  begin  to  give  special  exercise  to 
any  other  part  that  may  be  lacking  and  thus  draw 
the  new  fresh  supply  of  building  material  to  those 
parts  and  secure  their  development. 

The  young  man  who  goes  to  the  gynuiasium,  puts 
on  the  athletic  garb  and  girts  his  waist-line  with  a 
belt,  will  have  a  long,  slow  time  developing  his  body. 
The  belt   may.  for  just  a  brief  time,  give  a  sense  of 


308  ESSENTIALvS    TO    LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

strength  throuL;li  bracinii;-  the  waist  line  nuiscles,  l)Ut 
if  worn  continually  it  will  hinder  the  proper  working 
of  the  vital  organs,  and  prevent  the  preparation  of 
the  proper  amount  of  nutrition,  and  so  his  gymnasium 
course  may  prove  of  only  little,  if  any,  read  advantage. 
The  foregoing  advice  will  make  physical  training  a  big 
success  where  it  has  hitherto  accomplished  1)ut  little. 

Relaxation. 

When  you  lie  down  to  rest  or  sleep  or  when  you 
sit  down,  learn  to  relax.  Let  the  muscles  become 
limp.  Don't  hold  any  of  your  muscles  on  a  tension. 
Watch  yourself  if  you  are  in  a  habit  of  lying  awake 
nights  and  see  if  you  do  not  find  yourself  actually 
holding  your  head  up  from  the  pillow,  so  that  you  do 
not  let  your  head  rest  down  quiet  and  easy,  with  the 
nock  muscles  all  limp.  Study  to  "let  go"  with  the 
mind  as  well  as  the  muscles.  A  good  way  to  get 
relaxed  when  lying  down  is  to  hold  the  arm  and 
liand  up  straight  and  then  let  the  fingers  drop  over, 
then  the  wrist,  next  the  elbow  and  last  let  the  whole 
arm  fall  over  limp.  Repeat  many  times.  Relaxation 
prepares  the  way  for  sleep  and  full  physical  rest. 

Superstition. 

It  is  profoundly  astonishing  what  credulity  mani- 
fests itself  in  sutTering  humanity.  If  some  traveling 
quack,  a  stranger  to  the  country,  or  some  well  lo- 
cated medical  man  recommends  a  nauseous  decoction 
that  has  been  disguised  with  whiskey  and  aromatics ; 
or  some  sugar-chocolate  covered  pellet,  for  the  cure 
of  a  malady,  how  eagerly  the  afflicted  one  will  seize 
and  swalliiw  the  lauded  potion  or  pellet,  without  hav- 


POINTERS  309 

ins^  the  least  idea  of  what  it  contains.  So  credulous 
are  most  of  them  that  they  just  trust  all  to  the 
promise  of  cure  because  there  still  clings  to  humanity 
the  impression  that  medicines  cure.  It  is  all  a  great 
big  confidence  game  invented  for  the  chief  purpose 
of  relieving  the  poor  sufferer's  purse. 

If  some  natural  reasonable  process  of  cure  is  out- 
lined to  the  average  man  he  will  discredit  it  faster  than 
you  can  tell  him.  Faith  takes  hold  of  reasonable  evi- 
dence. 

Superstition  and  credulity  just  swallow  whatever 
seems  wonderful  or  marvelous  or  mystical  and  keep 
right  on   doing   it  after  a   thousand   disappointments. 

People  afflicted  with  rheumatism  will  change  doc- 
tors and  medicines  a  dozen  times  before  they  will 
trust  nature  across  the  road.  And  the  doctor  will 
change  medicines  until  he  is  baffled  over  and  over 
again  before  he  learns  to  come  back  and  build  on  the 
bedrock  of  hygiene. 

In  spite  of  superstitious  notions  about  wonderful 
medical  discoveries  and  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  man}' 
cures  brought  about  by  nature  are  credited  to  medi- 
cine, the  patient  sometimes  having  survived  in  spite 
of  the  drugs,  it  is  nevertheless  true  that  most  sick 
people  would  rally  and  fully  recover  much  quicker  if 
left  entirely  to  the  use  of  hygienic  agencies  in  the 
hands  of  some  good  old  common  sense  mother. 

Health  Catching. 

Disease  becomes  contagious  through  violations  of 
natural  law :  health  may  become  catching  through 
obedience. 


310         ESSENTIALS    TO    LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

Waist  Reform. 

O,  woman,  don't  waste  your  energies  worrying  over 
your  poor  health.  Just  reform  your  waist  line  by 
dispensing  with  bands  and  beginning  to  hang  all  gar- 
ments from  the  shoulders.  Let  the  bands  out  an 
inch  or  two  at  a  time,  once  a  month.  You  will  be 
surprised  at  the  rapidity  with  which  your  body  will 
fill  them.  Instead  of  the  corset  wear  an  abdominal 
supporter,  and  take  the  exercises  suggested  for  Fro- 
lapse  of  the  Stomach.  In  six  months  or  less  you 
will  have  sufficient  room  for  laboratory  work,  and  a 
feeling  of  power  will  have  taken  possession  of  you 
to  which  you  have  been  a  stranger.  The  waist  line 
is  the  point  of  greatest  waste  to  the  civilized  corset 
wearers.  At  least  three-fourths  of  the  doctors  will 
be  deprived  of  business  when  women  grow  up  natural 
from  childhood.  O,  if  the  best  women  of  the  w^orld 
could  l)ut  l)e  free  from  this  worse  than  Chinese  thral- 
dom, what  a  power  for  good  would  develop  in  Chris- 
tian homes,  and  it  would  be  a  power  that  would  move 
heaven   as   well   as   earth. 

Self  Denial. 

The  great  Master  teacher  said,  "if  any  man  will 
l)e  my  disciple,  let  him  deny  himself  daily,  and  take 
u])  his  cross  and  follow  me."  Self  denial,  in  part,  has 
to  do  with  matters  of  appetite  and  hence  directly  with 
the  question  of  health.  So  the  Master  makes  caring 
for  one's  health  through  appetite  a  part  of  the  test  of 
discipleship.  Self  denial  is  also  a  mental  and  moral 
discipline  which  helps  to  prepare  a  character  fit  for  an 
eternal  kingdom.  So  }()U  see  it  has  both  to  do  with 
hygiene  and  Christianitv.    Self  indulgence  has  ihe  ease 


POINTERS  311 

and  satisfaction  first,  and  the  pain  afterwards.  Self 
denial  endures  the  stress  of  mind  at  first  and  has  the 
pleasure  afterward.  Indulgence  eventually  ends  in 
sorrow;  denial  always  in  satisfaction.  This  keeps  the 
man  in  control  and  makes  life  a  joy.  "Nothing  great 
or  good  was  ever  accomplished  in  this  world  without 
the  exercise  of  resolute  self  denial."  It  is  the  response 
of  the  will  and  judgment  to  the  call  of  conscience.  It 
bars  the  way  against  every  evil. 

In  it  is  length  of  days  and  strength  of  life  and  pur- 
pose. It  walks  in  the  pathway  of  Wisdom.  It  fur- 
nishes the  discipline  which  has  built  the  character 
of  every  truly  great  man  that  ever  lived.  If  the  les- 
sons are  taught  to,  and  practiced  in  childhood  the  way 
of  life  becomes  easy.  It  costs  no  more  to  go  the 
right  way  than  to  go  the  other  way.  The  satisfaction 
and  pleasure  once  fully  enjoyed  makes  the  right  at- 
tractive and  if  followed  for  awhile  it  becomes  prefer- 
able. The  foundations  of  fortitude,  courage,  calmness, 
patience  and  self  control  for  life  are  laid  in  the  lessons 
lit  self  denial  taught  to  the  little  ones  by  faithful  and 
true  parents. 

In  its  practical  workings,  by  learning  to  like  pure 
soft  water  or  distilled  water  instead  of  using  hard 
water  and  drinking  tea  and  cofifee,  one  may  save 
themselves  from  }-ears  of  suffering  and  premature 
death.  Never  mind  if  the  soft  water  docs  taste  "Hat" 
to  a  badly  educated  palate,  it  will  taste  all  right  when 
the  appetite  is  subdued.  .And  there  is  the  change  t)f 
appetite  necessary  in  learning  to  like  plain  natural 
foods  instead  of  many  of  the  unwholesome  highly 
seasoned  viands  to  which  we  may  have  been  accus- 
tomed.    A  life  of  untold  physical  agony  and  remorse 


M2  lOSSENTIALS    TO    LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

may  be  prevented  by  denying  the  unlawful  t;ratifica- 
tion  of  sexual  desire.  The  command  "Thou  shalt  not 
steal"  requires  self  denial  and  the  Sabbath  command 
too,  and  so  of  all.  So  denial  means  obedience  to  both 
natural  and  moral  law. 

Self  denial  is  not  penance.  It  prohibits  only  the 
use  of  those  things  which  in  themselves  are  either 
harmful  or  unnecessary.  He  who  practices  it  gets 
more  than  full  compensation  for  any  self  crucifixion 
which  may  have  been  inflicted,  in  the  joy  and  rest 
which  comes  as  the  harvest  of  his  right  doing.  The 
way  of  self  discipline  brings  to  a  man  all  the  good 
thai  this  life  can  have  in  store  for  him.  It  pays  the 
largest  percentage  of  any  investment  man  can  make, 
and  the  investor,  if  true  to  the  end,  will  find  his  capital 
again,  infinitely  multiplied  in  the  life  to  come. 

It  is  astonishing  what  military  discipline  will  do. 
?\k'n  can  give  themselves  up  to  obeying  the  com- 
mands of  a  superior  in  ofifice  till  they  will  throw  them- 
selves upon  fixed  bayonets  or  into  the  mouth  of  the 
cannon.  If  the  same  efforts  were  put  forth  by  fathers 
and  mothers  and  Christian  teachers  and  the  teachers 
in  our  secular  schools  to  develop  this  virtue,  most  of 
the  sickness  and  sin  would  cease  from  society.  There 
would  be  very  little  use  for  lawyers  or  courts  of 
justice.  The  jails  would  be  empty.  No  prohibitory 
laws  and  few  others  would  be  needed  to  restrain  man- 
kind. They  would  be  useful  only  as  standards  of 
morality. 

If  self  were  angelic  there  would  be  no  need  of  de- 
nial but  self  is  always  selfish  and  like  every  perverted 
thing  in  nature  needs  pruning  and  trimming  and  train- 
ing and  cultivating.     There  is  too  much  of  the  culti- 


POINTERS  313 

vating  without  the  pruuiiii;.  Your  Ijcst  fruit-tree  needs 
pruning-,  and  your  best  domestic  animal  needs  curb- 
ing, and  restraining,  to  keep  the  wild  selfish  nature 
from  asserting  itself.  You  see  in  your  best  friends 
things  whicli  need  correcting,  in  motive  as  well  as  in 
outward  conduct.  You  see  places  where  a  little  in- 
ward training  would  make  them  more  lovely,  more 
noble,  and  better  companions  and  members  of  society. 
It  is  best  that  we  turn  our  e3^es  within  and  begin  the 
work  which  no  other  can  do  for  us  and  if  we  are  still 
children,  not  kick  and  grumble  because  a  wise  cautious 
parent  places  on  us  restraints  that  cut  across  our  sel- 
fish desires.  Self  denial  is  the  noblest  kind  of  dis- 
cipline. 

Teachers  and  all  workers  for  the  good  of  liunianitv 
can  immortalize  their  names  by  helping  to  build  up 
this  safeguard  of  society. 

Change  of  Tune. 

For  nearly  fifty  years  the  writer  has  been  listening 
to  those  who  considered  themselves  health  teachers. 
He  has  probably  heard  a  thousand  health  talks  in  this 
time.  Perhaps  not  <|uite  so  many.  He  feels  safe  in 
trusting  his  memory  to  say  that  all  but  twenty-five 
or  thirt>'  of  these  talks  were  on  the  subject  of  diet. 
He  has  ne\er  heard  a  word  said  about  the  Law  of 
Rest.  Scarcely  anything  about  water-drinking  and 
only  very  little  on  the  subjects  of  breathing,  clothing 
and  exercise.  He  has  sometimes  been  reminded  of 
a  hand  organ  that  had  got  out  of  order  and  kept  play- 
ing the  same  tune  right  over  and  over.  He  thinks 
now  it  is  about  time  to  regulate  the  stops  and  put  the 
organ  in   full  rc])air  so  as  to  get  all  the  tunes  possible 

21 


314  ESSENTIAIvS    TO    LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

out  of  it.  There  is  something  to  talk  about  beside 
the  Law  of  Eating.  We  hope  the  reader  will  appre- 
ciate the  emphasis  we  have  placed  on  the  Law  of 
Breathing,  and  the  Law  of  Rest,  as  well  as  the  Law 
.of  Comfort  in  the  use  of  sunlight  and  protection  front 
the   elements. 

Do  not  overlook  the  Law  of  Water-drinking.  MucW 
more  can  be  accomplished  in  the  use  of  these  things 
than   has  yet  been   done. 

Do  not  overlook  the  value  of  breathing  as  a  cure 
for  dyspepsia  and  slow  digestion.  If  you  are  a« 
invalid  and  have  been  leaning  on  some  one  or  some- 
thing outside  yourself  for  cure,  just  get  your  personal 
spunk  up  and  make  up  your  mind  for  yourself  to  live 
A  listless  spiritless  frame  of  mind  is  sure  to  result  from 
a  lack  of  water  drinking  and  breathing.  Stir  up  your 
breathing  muscles,  pull  out  a  new  stop  and  change 
the  tune,  see  if  3^ou  cannot  get  a  few  new  strains  of 
music  out  of  the  old  organ.  It  is  about  time  that  peo- 
ple learned  that  beside  Creative  power  there  is  no 
curative  power  outside  the  living  body.  These  bodies 
can  with  a  very  little  artificial  help  be  made  to  ap- 
propriate the  Seven  Essentials  and  bring  in  new  life 
and  activity.  If  the  body  is  dull  and  listless,  physic- 
ally, a  little  passive  exercise — massage,  or  osteopathy, 
or  Swedish  manual  movements,  or  mechanical  vibra- 
tion, or  electricity — may  be  a  great  help,  in  connection 
with  efYorts  at  breathing  and  water-drinking.  There  is 
many  an  invalid  that  will  flourish  and  get  fully  well 
when  they  get  the  mind  fully  made  up  to  live.  Some 
of  them  will  need  help  to  make  up  their  minds.  This 
is  where  a  good  courageous  and  hopeful  physicia« 
and  nurse  and  cheerful  family  friends  will  be  of  great 


POINTERS  315 

value.  The  distracted  cheerless  mind  must  ha\  e  con- 
fidence, trust,  and  peace  restored  so  that  the  whole 
life  energy  will  not  be  spent  in  fostering  adverse 
mental  conditions  like  worry,  fear  and  anxiety.  The 
real  Christian  hope  is  a  precious  boon  to  these  cases. 
Confidence  in  the  loving  tender  Heavenly  Father  may 
be  transferred  from  the  heart  and  soul  of  the  faithful 
Christian  physician  or  nurse,  to  the  heart  of  the  de- 
sponding sick  one  and  the  discordant  notes  of  doubt 
and  darkness,  despair  and  remorse  may  be  silenced, 
and  the  melody  of  hope  and  joy  and  love  be  made 
to  respond  to  the  loving  kindness  of  our  God,  without 
whose  notice  not  a  sparrow  falls  to  the  ground.  There 
are  songs  of  joy  and  gladness  in  this  old  organ, — the 
human  body, — and  when  we  get  the  subject  of  Hygiene 
tuned  right  in  connection  with  this  body  its  delicate 
chords  will  once  more  vibrate  in  partial  if  not  full 
accord  with  the  laws  of  the  Creator  in  Xaturc. 

Responsibility. 

.^omeonc  will  be  held  accountable  for  the  ruin 
wrought  by  the  corset.  Our  Christian  women  feel  so 
sorry  for  the  ])Oor  benighted  Chinese  ladies  who  pinch 
and  deform  their  feet,  and  they  send  missionaries  at 
great  expense  to  save  these  poor  creatures  from  their 
wrong  ways,  while  they  themselves  stand  as  much 
in  need  of  being  saved  from  their  ungodly  physical 
habits  as  do  the  Chinese.  There  is  one  very  consoling 
thought,  however,  they  nearly  all  see  the  error  of  their 
way  after  they  have  lost  their  health  and  been  ipiar- 
tered  and  cored  on  some  operating  talile.  Then  the\' 
are  truly  penitent.  This  is  very  encouraging.  I'.ut 
>cmebodv  will  have  an  account  to  settle  f^ir  the  ruined 


316  ESSENTIALS    TO    LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

lives  that  mic^ht  liavc  l)ccn  saved  by  trampling-  pride 
under  foot. 

Sterilizing  Milk  and  Cream  and  Water. 

This  is  done  by  slowly  l^ringini;  it  to  the  boiling" 
point  and  letting  it  remain  two  or  three  minutes;  or 
pasteurize  it  by  keeping  it  just  about  160  to  180  F. 
for  half  an  hour.  In  general  terms  it  is  sufficient  to 
say  bring"  it  nearly  to  the  boiling"  point  and  keej)  it 
there  for  twentv  or  thirt\-  minutes.  The  long  heating: 
at  lower  temperature  does  not  change  the  flavor  of 
the  milk  as  much  as  boiling".  Treat  all  well  water,  and 
river  water,  l)y  boiling  before  drinking.  Raw  milk 
is  a  source  of  tuberculosis  infection,  and  typhoid  fever 
is  usually  caused  by  g"ern"is  in  the  water  or  the  milk. 
Sterilize  the  milk  when  first  drawn,  and  the  cream  and 
1)utter  will  be  all  right. 

Sterilizing  Strawberries,  Etc. 

Strawberries,  lettuce,  celery  and  other  green  salad 
materials,  are  liable  to  be  thoroughly  infected  by 
germs  of  bacillus  coli  from  the  barnyard  fertilizer  used 
as  well  as  other  ground  germs.  After  thorough  wash- 
ing, let  thein  stand  for  twenty  n"iinutes  in  a  solution 
of  soda  and  water,  one  teaspoonful  to  a  pint;  then 
rinse  thoroughl}^  in  clean  water.  The  writer  has  seen 
cases  where  strawd^erries  made  the  i)erson  sick  every 
time,  .\fler  beginning  to  treat  them  as  here  suggested, 
all  tr(nd)le  ceased.  Tartaric  Acid  soluli(M"i  of  the  same 
strength   i>  also  hig"hl_\"   recommended. 

How  to  Sweeten  a  Cistern. 

']~akc  off  the  cover  and  set  a  ])ump  in  which  reaches 
nearl}"   to  the  bottom.      Xow   [)ump,  letting  the  water 


POINTERS  317 

lall  back  into  the  cistern  lor  one  or  two  honrs  or  lons^cr 
accordino^  to  the  amount  of  water.  Yon  will  he  snr- 
prised  how  working  the  air  hack  into  the  water  in  this 
manner  will  sweeten  np  the  whole  volnme.  In  the 
absence  of  a  pnmi)  dip  with  bucket  at  the  end  of  a 
pole  or  rope  and  pour  it  hack  in.  At  least  once  a 
year,  when  the  cistern  is  low,  draw  it  all  out  and  use 
plenty  of  a  solution  of  chlorate  of  lime  washing"  the 
sides  aufl  bottcmi  thorouqhh-.  and  drv  with  a  piece  of 
heav}'  cotton  goods. 

Soft  Drinks. 

The  soda  fountain  drinks  lor  the  young  people,  may 
be  comi^letely  dispensed  with  by  learning  to  put  up 
fruit  juices  as  one  puts  u])  I'ruit.  (Orangeade,  lemonade 
and  all  kinds  of  berry  juices,  especially  raspberry,  and 
grape  juice  cooled  in  the  refrigerator  or  well  are  very 
refreshing. 

Some  of  the  soda  fountain  drinks  are  utterly  unfit 
for  the  human  stomach.  Read  the  goxernment  re- 
ports on  Coco  Cola  and  a  long  list  of  its  class. 

Apple  cider  made  pure  by  paring  the  apples  and  thus 
getting  rid  of  the  germs  of  fermentation  has  been 
kept  ten  weeks,  in  an  open  pitcher  on  the  pantr}'  shelf 
from  October  to  Christmas  with  nothing  but  a  naj)kin 
laid  loosely  over  the  top.  w  ithout  perceptible  fermenta- 
tion. .Sound  api)le  juice  will  keep  as  well  as  sound  ap- 
])lcs.  Heat  and  seal  this  like  fruit  in  glass  jars  and 
you  have  something  fine. 

Insect  Bites. 

Moscpiitoes  convev  the  poison  which  causes  malarial, 
yellow,  and  i)io])al)ly  some  other  U)rms  of  lever.     i'Meas 


318         ESSBNTIAL,S    TO    LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

and  ticks  and  bedbugs  inoculate  their  victims,  with 
poisons  from  the  last  previous  victim.  Bubonic  plague 
is  conveyed  from  rat  to  rat,  and  from  rat  to  human, 
by  the  little  flea.  Moral :  Look  out  for  the  beds  you 
sleep  in  when  traveling.  Kill  the  rats,  and  drive  out  the 
fleas,  and  flood  the  top  of  your  malaria  and  yellow 
fever  breeding  s\yamps  with  crude  coal  oil,  once  in 
three  or  four  weeks  during  the  mosquito  season.  Our 
state  authorities  are  awaking  up  to  the  importance 
of  looking  after  this  matter.  If  the  people  will  only 
wake  up  and  co-operate  these  terrible  diseases  may  be 
held  in  check. 

Bubonic  plague  has  just  been  traced  in  California  to 
the  ground  scpiirrel.  This  was  demonstrated  by  the 
physicians  of  the  United  States  Public  Health  and 
Marine  Hospital  Service.  Several  cases  occurring  in 
one  locality  were  traced  directly  to  the  squirrel.  Now 
comes  a  war  of  extermination  on  the  ground  squirrel. 
If  the  State  spends  a  few  millions  in  this  scheme  it 
will  help  to  rid  the  country  of  a  pest  that  has  alread\- 
heretofore  forfeited  all  rights  to  existence. 

On  Bathing.  • 

Every  family  ought  to  have  a  good  bath  room  and 
fixtures.  Even  the  old  farm  house  can  be  fitted  up 
with  all  the  hot  and  cold  water  appliances  at  a.  mod- 
erate expense.  At  the  present  stage  of  civilization  no 
other  thing  is  so  important  to  the  welfare  of  the  family 
as  this.  A  long  list  of  serious  internal  difficulties  can 
be  nipped  in  the  bud,  at  the  very  commencement,  by  a 
good  hot,  full  bath  for  twenty  or  thirty  minutes,  fol- 
lowed with  a  vigorous  rubbing  with  water  at  a  tem- 
perature ten  or  fifteen  degrees  cooler  than  the  bath. 


POINTERS  319 

Grippe,  congestions  of  the  lungs,  liver,  kidneys, 
bowels  or  any  other  internal  organs  accompanied  with 
chilly  skin  will  yield  very  promptly  to  these  measures. 
So  will  severe  pains  in  almost  any  part  of  the  body  if 
taken  early.  The  skin  can  be  made  to  hold  fully  one 
third  of  all  the  blood  of  the  body.;  and  this  takes  away 
the  pressure  from  the  painful  congested  parts,  and  if 
the  patient  is  put  to  bed  and  kept  extra  warm  for  the 
few  hours  following  the  bath,  sure  relief  will  generally 
result.  A  case  of  nervous  shock  will  yield  quickly  to 
a  good  warm  bath  and  rub. 

Cool  and  cold  bathing  is  tonic,  stimulant,  invigora- 
ting, if  used  properly.  Warm  and  hot  baths  are  re- 
laxing, and  sedative,  (tending  to  alleviate  pain)  and 
debilitating  if  continued  too  long.  The  most  natural 
daily  bath  for  tropical  regions  is  sea  or  river  bathing-. 
For  frigid  temperatures  the  daily  dry  towel  rub  fol- 
lowed with  oil,  under  ordinary  circumstances,  is  about 
the  safest  form  of  skin  treatment.  An  occasional  water 
bath  at  70  to  90  degrees  for  cleanliness  is  a  necessity. 
For  the  Temperate  Zone,  variations  to  meet  the 
weather  changes  must  be  borne  in  mind.  Turkish 
and  Russian  baths  are  good  for  the  strong  and  well 
nourished.  Alternations  of  heat  and  cold  are  the  most 
effective  for  permanently  relieving  pain  and  conges- 
tion. Nothing  will  so  soon  increase  the  circulation 
in  any  part  of  the  body  as  sudden  changes  from  hot 
to  cold  water,  repeated  several  times  until  the  parts 
treated  are  pressed  full  of  blood.  Always  follow  a 
warm  bath  with  a  touch  of  water  at  least  ten  to  thirty 
degrees  colder  than  the  bath. 


320         ESSENTIALS    TO     LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

Sweating. 

l'ers])irint;'  frcelx'  will  not  make  you  led  weak  and 
tired,  if  yon  drink  plenl}-  ni  water  at  the  time.  The 
cause  of  these  feelin^i's  is  tliat  the  blood  has  been 
thickened  by  drawing'  the  water  out  of  it  and  the 
heart  and  nerves  are  .having  a  harder  time  to  do  their 
work  than  before.  Replace  the  dirt}'  water  you  have 
drawn  out  of  the  body  with  a  good  supply  of  clean 
])ure  liquid  and  }OU  will  feel  as  supple  as  a  kid.  Don't 
tr}^  to  draw  water  out  of  a  dried  up  fevered  body  till 
^■ou  put  some  in.  Sweating  brings  discomfort  unless 
these  facts  are  recognized. 

Skin  Foods. 

We  hear  much  about  skin  foods  in  these  days  of 
new  farigied  notions  and  fads.  You  will  observe,  if 
yon  kee])  on  the  alert,  that  the}'  all  have  to  be  well 
rubbeil  in.  Xow  don't  forget  that  manipulation  is  al- 
ways good  in  chronic  cases  of  ncr\e  and  muscTe 
troubles  like  rheumatism,  neuralgia,  paialysis  and 
kindred  dit^iculties.  In  all  these  cases  skin  food,  and 
muscle  food,  and  nerve  food,  and  bone  making  ma- 
terial are  all  excellent.  lUit  the  best  place  to  put  these 
foods  is  in  the  stomach,  just  swallow  them  and  have 
them  digested,  so  they  may  l)e  borne  to  the  parts 
in  trouble,  and  be  used  as  needed.  The  skin  has  no 
digestive  a])])aratus.  We  are  not  sa}-ing  that  inunc- 
tions are  not  useful,  for  they  are.  }\u\  don't  be  hum- 
bugged with  the  idea  of  feeding  the  body  through  the 
skin,   for  it   cannot  be  done. 

Blood  Purifiers. 

Talk  about  blood  purifiers.     There   is  not   as   much 


POINTERS  321 

virtue  in  all  the  medicines  ever  advertised  or  used  by 
Regulars  or  Quacks  as  blood  purifiers,  as  in  one  good 
sweat,  preceded  and  followed  by  copious  draughts  of 
pure  water.  We  wish  it  were  as  easy  to  wash  tin- 
humbug  out  of  the  people's  minds  as  to  wash  and 
sweat  the  waste  out  of  their  l:)odies.  Tlic  doctors 
sometimes  gi\'e  a  simple  harmless  powder  in  a  glass 
of  water  every  two  hours.  Water  thus  prepared  al- 
ways does  good. 

High  Heels. 

Backache  and  back  headache  are  due  in  scores  of 
cases  to  this  cause.  They  keep  up  a  constant  concus- 
sion on  the  joints  of  the  spine,  until  e\  cry  portion  ot 
the  spinal  column  is  just  bruised  and  sore  and  aching. 
This  is  especially  true  when  walking  on  a  hard  pa\e- 
ment.  The  reasonal)le  remedy  is  low  rubber  heels. 
Don't  think  medicine  or  massage  will  cure  you.  Gi\e 
the  1)o(l>'  rest  from  its  l)ruising. 

Poverty  Not  a  Complete  Excuse. 

Po\-ertv  can  be  no  excuse  for  a  failure  lo  li\  e  health- 
full}-.  We  mean  ordinary  poverty,  not  the  degraded 
helpless  poverty  of  the  slums.  Let  us  see.  The  poor 
have  just  as  good  a  chance  to  breathe  as  the  wealthy 
and  air  costs  nothing  yet.  They  can  gel  just  as  pure 
water  to  <lriid<  without  extra  expense.  The  cost  of 
wheat,  oats,  rye,  barlew  rice,  ])eas,  beans  and  lentils 
and  fruits  generally  is  on  an  average  about  one-fourth 
as  much  per  pound  as  flesh.  And  every  one  of  them 
contains  at  least  three  limes  as  much  nourishment. 
That  means  that  the  nourishment  in  the  Hesh  cc")sls 
twelve  times  as  much  as  in  the  grains.     In  potatoes 


322  ESSENTIALS    TO    LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

there  is  about  the  same  amount  of  nutrition  but  of  a 
different  class  costing  about  one-twelfth  to  one-fif- 
teenth as  much  as  flesh.  Here  is  a  mighty  saving;  if 
it  were  only  taken  into  account  it  would  soon  clothe 
the  family.  And  there  is  the  beer  and  wine,  and  tea 
and  cofifee  and  tobacco,  and  whiskey.  Here  is  enough 
expense,  all  useless,  to  build  a  house  in  a  few  years. 
To  be  sure  they  cannot  have  as  good  houses  but  they 
can  save  enough  in  diet  and  luxuries  to  soon  build  a 
small  comfortable  house.  I.ook  the  ground  over  care- 
fully and  }'OU  may  conclude  that  something  beside 
poverty  stands  in  the  way  of  reform  and  prosperity. 

Brain  Workers. 

This  class  need  more  sleep  than  other  men,  though 
they  often  exist  with  much  less ;  but  it  is  always  at  the 
expense  of  vitality.  We  see  many  of  them  prematurely 
gray  and  enfeebled.  Something  is  wrong  when  the 
"wise  men"  fail  to  get  in  touch  with  natural  law  and 
go  down  into  untimely  graves.  The  majority  of  brain 
workers  fail  because  they  do  not  take  proper  nutrition 
nor  enough  physical  exercise  to  keep  the  physical  and 
mental  forces  well  balanced.  Mental  power  and  en- 
durance is  dependent  on  the  backing  of  physical 
strength.  An  enfeebled  body  may  be  possessed  of  a 
brain  that  will  turn  out  some  pointed,  well  polished 
thoughts,  but  the  capacity  for  production  and  endur- 
ance all  depends  on  a  healthy  even  balance  between 
bone,  muscle,  nerve  and  brain.  The  brain  worker  will 
accomplish  twice  as  much  in  a  lifetime  by  spending 
half  his  waking  hours  in  cheerful,  interesting,  useful 
physical  employment,  than  he  will  by  crowding  and 
driving  his  brain  for  months  and  years  at  a  time,  until 


POINTERS  323 

kis  digestion  is  disordered,  his  mind  clmuicd  and  his 
bodily  powers  begin  to  decay. 

There  is  many  a  silvered  head  and  grizzled  beard 
and  many  a  stoop  shouldered  old  man  at  sixty  who 
ought  still  to  be  in  the  very  prime  of  life.  If  men  take 
care  of  themselves  by  keeping  an  even  balance, 
through  temperance  and  moderate  labor,  they  ought 
to  be  able  to  do  their  best  mental  work  after  they  are 
sixty.  It  is  not  brain  work  that  kills.  It  is  worry  and 
lack  of  proper  food  and  consistent  physical  employ- 
ment to  sustain  the  constitutional  vim  on  which  clear- 
headed mental  activity  depends.  It  is  this  change  to 
pleasing  physical  labor  which  gives  rest  to  the  brain 
and  prepares  it  for  other  conquests.  If  any  class  of 
men  ought  to  set  an  example  of  consistency  in  the  care 
of  the  health  it  ought  to  be  the  ministry,  the  literary 
men  and  the  physicians.  If  these  make  an  excuse  of 
their  duties  to  trample  under  foot  natural  law  what 
will  the  people  do?  In  these  remarks  we  are  not  ig- 
noring other  Laws  of  Health. 

How  Do  You  Feel  ? 

This  is  a  dangerous  question  to  ask  a  chronic  in- 
valid. The  most  of  them  can  feel  anything  that  their 
imagination  can  conjure.  If  some  one  tells  a  story 
of  a  bad  tape  worm  or  of  a  frog  in  the  stomach,  (the 
most  impossible  thing  on  earth,)  or  of  worms  under 
the  skin,  or  of  some  one  dying  of  abcess  of  the  liver; 
instantly  that  is  just  what  is  the  matter  with  one  of 
those  hypochondriacs  who  happen  to  hear  the  unfor- 
tunate remarks.  This  class  of  patients  should,  if  pos- 
sible, be  placed  where  they  will  hear  of  nothing  but 
life.     Even  after  months  the   question  "How  do  you 


( ) 


o 


324  ESSENTIALS    TO    LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

feel  ?"  may  spriiii^'  the  unhappy  combination  and  set 
goin!4  a  regiment  of  symptoms  that  will  take  hours, 
if  not  clays,  to  subdue.  And  while  you  are  about  it 
you'd  better  catch  and  shut  up  those  old  busy-bodies 
who  run  to  every  sick  bedside  and  tell  how  thev  knew 
some  one  "sick  just  as  you  are""  and  Imw  it  fmallv 
turned  into  a  cancer  and  the  poor  man  died.  ( )r  if  some 
ne  has  a  puncture  of  any  part  of  the  tlesh  this  foolish 
conceited  old  meddler  gets  there  and  Ijogins  to  tell 
how  she  knew  this  one  and  that  one  and  the  other 
one;  they  each  of  them  had  just  such  a  puncture  "as 
you've  got"  and  "ever}'one  of  them  died  of  lockjaw." 
iJetter  for  the  sick  and  those  who  ha\e  tlie  bills  to 
pay,  if  such  comforters  were  in  jail  being  su])ported 
at  pidjlic  expense.  Sometimes  the  doctor  or  nurse 
will  <.]o\)  cner  along  this  line,  ddie  doctor  who  labors 
to  im])ress  his  patients  with  the  seriousness  of  their 
cases,  and  tries  to  make  them  think  they  are  worse 
()f\  than  they  really  are,  will  surely  be  found  out  in 
time;  and  he  will  be  relegated  and  despised  as  he 
ought  to  be.  He  ma}'  sticceed  in  increasing  his  bills 
for  a  time,  l)ut  it  will  in  the  long  run  prove  fully  as  ex- 
pensixe  to  him  as  to  his  patients.  But  there  are  a 
few  cases  where  it  is  hard  to  make  jiatients  realize 
the  importance  of  taking  i)r(iper  care  of  themselves, 
but  these  do  not  form  a  sufificient  excuse  for  the  "reg- 
ular" ((uackery  so  nuich  in  xogue  in  these  days  of 
"graft".  He  a  little  shy  of  the  doctor  who  always  finds 
a  "floating""  kidney  or  a  "diseased"'  ap])endix.  Dri\'e 
out  of  the  sick  room  and  out  of  the  house  and  as  far 
as  possible  out  of  the  comnumity  e\ery  clement  that 
is  adverse  to  life  and  rest  and  ])eace. 


POINTERS  325 

Hunger  and  Appetite. 

Hunger  is  the  real  (Icniand  of  the  body  for  nourisli- 
ment ;  appetite  is  the  demand  of  the  nerves  of  taste. 
It  clamors  just  as  loudly  as  hunger;  sometimes  much 
louder,  llr.ngcr  stimulates  true  natural  appetite.  Mere 
appetite  may  exist  for  something  that  is  neither  nu- 
tritious nor  wholesome.  Through  the  results  of  taking 
stimulants,  unnatural  appetites  are  formed  which  are 
very  hard  to  break.  The  use  of  stimulating  foods,  like 
pork  and  all  sorts  of  flesh  and  condiments,  often  costs 
the  bod}'  such  an  effort  at  digestion  that  as  soon  as 
the  stomach  is  empty  there  comes  a  feeling  of  faint- 
ness  and  "all  gone  feeling"  which  almost  unmans  the 
individual.  This  exhaustion  is  caused  by  oxerwork  on 
the  part  of  the  digestive  apparatus.  Any  article  the 
use  of  which  creates  a  craving  a])petite  for  itself  which 
no  other  good  food  will  satisfy  is  an  unsafe  article  to 
use,  because  it  tends  to  make  the  -aiipetite  superior 
to  the  man  ;  to  create  the  slavery  of  indulgence.  Pure 
heaven-ordained  foods  never  stimulate  an  overgrowth 
of  appetite  in  such  a  way  that  some  other  good  food 
will  not  fill  the  immediate  demand. 

The  things  for  which  appetite  is  most  likel\-  to  grow 
and  clamor  are  alcoholic  stinnilants,  tol)acco.  tea  and 
cofifee,  flesh  meats  and  condiments.  This  is  because 
of  the  poisonous  exciting  elements  they  contain.  They 
therefore  are  unfit  for  the  use  of  mankind. 

God  gave  man  hunger  and  natural  ai)petite  so  he 
would  enjoy  eating  and  drinking  good  things.  The 
man  with  a  depraved  aj^iietite  does  not  have  nuich 
taste  for  natural  foods.  The}-  are  too  tame;  not  strong 
enough  in  flavor  to  meet  the  demands  of  his  appetite. 
This  should  he  good  evidence  to  him  that  he  is  getting 


326         ESSENTIALS    TO   LIFE     AND    HEALTH 

over  the  line  on  to  dangerous  ground.  When  he  comes 
back  and  finds  that  really  good  things  do  taste  good, 
then  he  will  be  in  danger  of  overdoing  in  quantity  to 
make  up  for  what  the  food  lacks  in  stimulation.  It 
takes  time  to  conquer  the  habits  of  a  lifetime.  But 
there  is  joy  at  the  end  of,  and  even  during  the  conflict, 
for  the  man  knows  every  step  of  the  way  that  God  is 
helping  him  and  he  feels  assured  that  he  will  come  out 
on  the  victory  side  of  the  battle. 

Feed  the  children  so  they  Avill  not  develop  evil,  en- 
slaving appetites. 

Incentives  to  Reform. 

There  is  much  less  excuse  for  a  neglect  to  reform, 
now,  than  there  was  fifty  years  ago.  Then  the  aver- 
age miller  in  the  United  States  did  not  know  what 
"Graham"  flour  meant.  There  was  scarcely  a  grocery 
store  in  all  the  land  where  common  oatmeal  could  be 
bought.  There  were  neither  split  peas,  package  foods, 
nor  canned  goods  of  any  kind.  Flaked  or  rolled 
grains  had  not  yet  be  thought  of.  "Hog  and  hominy," 
fine  flour  bread  and  biscuit,  and  ham  and  eggs,  pork 
and  cabbage,  and  meat  and  potatoes ;  these  were  thef 
standard  articles.  Some  seasons  brought  a  plentiful 
supply  of  pancakes  and  molasses  or  pork  fats,  and 
"spare  ribs,"  sausage,  "headcheese"  and  "souse." 
These  "luxuries"  kept  the  old  style  allopathic  doctor 
very  busy  with  his  i)ill  bags  and  decoctions. 

Now  a  most  marA-elous  transformation  has  taken 
place.  All  the  standard  h\-gienic  foods  of  the  world 
are  packed  on  the  shelves  of  every  grocery  store  in 
all   the   countrv.     The   variety   is  almost  bewildering. 


POINTERS  327 

Canned  goods  and  tropical  fruits  from  the  ends  of 
the  world  can  be  had  in  every  city  and  town. 

The  bakeries  are  furnishing  fourfold  the  variety  of 
wholesome  bake  stuffs  they  did. 

Greenhouses  keep  the  supply  of  garden  vegetables 
on  hand  the  year  around. 

The  improvement  of  fruits  and  berries  and  grapes 
and  their  almost  universal  production  is  beyond  all 
comparison  with  any  similar  progress  in  the  history 
of  civilization.  And  what  has  been  the  result?  Those 
who  keep  the  statistics  have  demonstrated  that  the 
average  length  of  life  has  been  increased  from  thirty- 
two  years  to  thirty-six  or  thirty-seven.  Infant  mortal- 
ity has  been  lessened  one  half  in  our  leading  cities, 
and  a  better  system  of  nursing  has  been  developed, 
which  is  saving  many  lives  which  otherwise  would 
be  sacrificed  to  ignorance  and  neglect. 

We  would  not  be  faithful  to  our  task  were  we  to 
pass  by  the  improvements  in  the  homes  of  the  people. 
The  bath-room  and  hot  water  system  were  almost 
unknown  in  the  home  a  generation  ago,  and  the  care 
of  the  city  water  supply  was  a  mere  apology. 

What  a  wonderful  change  has  been  made  too  in  the 
preparation  of  clothing.  Then  people  froze  and  suf- 
fered in  their  half  sufficient  garments,  in  \vinter.  Now 
the  poorest  can  have  comfortable  feet  and  limits  if 
they  will.  The  felts  and  arctics  and  leggings  have 
taken  the  place  of  the  old  stifif  leather  boots. 

The  Union  underwear,  and  other  combination  gar- 
ments leave  little  excuse  for  hanging  burdens  upon 
the  hips.  The  quality,  too,  of  the  garments  from  the 
lightest  gauze  to  the  heaviest  weight,  all  ready  to 
wear,  for  all   ages,  sizes  and  sexes  is  almost  beyond 


328         ESSENTIALS    TO    LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

comprehension.  All  these  good  things  and  a  thon- 
sand  more  we  have  not  space  to  mention  have  come 
to  us  since  our  childhood  years;  chiefly  because  of 
the  spirit  of  reform  that  took  possession  of  such  men  as 
Sylvester  Graham  and  Drs.  Trail,  Jackson,  Dio  Lewis, 
Gunn,  Beach  and  a  host  of  others  who  sympathized 
with  them  and  have  taken  uj)  their  work  and  car- 
ried it  forward.  One  whole  denomination  of  Chris- 
tians, the  Seventh  Day  Adventists.  ought  to  be 
credited  for  the  part  they  have  taken  in  this  work. 
In  the  spring  of  1864  these  people  adopted  true  health 
reform  as  a  part  of  their  religions  faith  and  have 
ever  since  diligently  proclaimed  the  gospel  of  "the 
life  that  now  is"  in  connection  with  the  Gospel  of 
"the  one  to  come."  At  the  present  time  their  workers 
are  in  every  land  and  their  institutions  for  the  allevia- 
tion of  human  suffering  are  springing  up  everywhere. 
How  much  their  influence  has  had  to  do  with  bringing 
about  the  blessed  results  we  have  lived  to  see,  may 
not  be  known  till  the  records  of  Heaven  are  opened. 
There  are  a  host  of  others  beside  them  too  who  have 
been  faithful  workers  in  this  cause  of  health  and  true 
tem Iterance.  In  the  early  days  of  this  reform  the 
mildest  epithet  applied  to  the  faithful  workers,  who 
saw  things  that  others  through  ])rejudice  failed  to  see, 
was  simply  "Cranks."  It  was  in  those  times  that  this 
word  was  coined,  ])erhaps  in  i)art  for  their  especial 
benefit.  lUit  epithets  and  rcjjroaches  never  stay  the 
])rogress  of  true  reform. 

Mankind,  generally,  want  to  live,  and  when  they  get 
their  eyes  opened  to  their  better  interests  nothing- 
will  hold  them  back. 

Now   those    who    want    ty    cat    and    drink    properly, 


POINTERS  329 

breathe  right,  dress  right,  and  keep  comfortable  and 
restful,  find  almost  everything",  comparatively,  ready 
for  their  encouragement.  Indeed  in  some  quarters 
it  is  becoming  rather  popular  to  be  a  health  reformer. 
"Other  men  have  labored  and  we  are  entered  upon  the 
fruition  of  their  work."  If  we  are  as  faithful  as  they 
were  the  coming  twenty  years  will  see  greater  things 
save  some  of  us  many  afflictions,  and  many  hard  bat- 
tles later  in  life. 

Hints  on  House  Building. 

The  weakest,  cheapest,  poorest  part  of  civilized 
houses  generally  is  the  floor.  The  walls  and  roof 
are  thick  and  heavy,  but  the  floor  is  just  one  meager 
thickness  of  inch  lumber,  matched  and  planed  and 
possibly  lined  with  a  thin  veneer  of  half-inch  boards. 
This  poor  apology  for  protection  leaves  the  floor  the 
coldest  part  of  the  house,  just  where  it  ought  to  be 
the  warmest,  and  consequently  the  most  of  the  fam- 
ily all  winter  long  suffer  with  cold  feet  and  limbs 
and  all  the  wretchedness  of  colds,  coughs,  bronchitis, 
catarrh  and  pneumonia  and  a  lot  of  poor  religion  be- 
sides. The  very  least  that  ought  to  be  done  for  the 
lower  floor  is  to  lay  first  of  all,  one  good  close  floor  of 
single  surfaced  boards;  matched  and  planed  would  be 
better.  After  all  the  rest  of  the  house  is  finished,  ex- 
cept setting  the  base  boards  and  fitting  the  doors,  cover 
this  floor  with  good  building  paper,  and  then  lay  a 
good  floor  to  suit  in  each  room  of  the  house.  This 
paper  lining  not  only  insures  warmth,  but  shuts  out 
the  cellar  and  .ground  air  from  the  house.  The  extra 
cost  will  be  more  than  saved  f"r  fuel   in   three  years. 

22 


330  ESSENTIALS  TO  LIFE  AND  HEALTH 

As  the  important  thing  is  to  keep  the  feet  and  limbs 
warm  in  cold  weather  a  step  further  toward  success 
will  consist  in  heating  the  floors  to  the  temperature 
of  say  70  to  80  degrees,  about  the  warmth  of  the  soil 
on  an  average  summer  day.  There  would  be  enough 
heat  rising  from  such  a  floor  to  keep  the  air  in  the 
room  warm  enough  for  body  comfort.  And  putting 
the  heat  right  where  it  is  most  needed  will  be  a  great 
source  of  economy.  It  will  not  require  half  the  fuel 
and  expense  that  is  now  needed,  to  keep  the  entire 
house  comfortable.  This  may  all  be  accomplished  by 
running  the  steam  or  hot  water  pipes  underneath  and 
next  to  the  floors.  Hot  water  heating  is  now  by  far 
the  most  economical  of  any  means  used.  It  is  per- 
fectly feasible  for  old  coimtry  homes  and  pays  for 
itself  in  a  few  years  in  health  and  comfort  besides 
the  money  saving  which  is  no  small  item. 

If  the  lower  floor  is  to  be  made  of  cement,  the  pipes 
may  be  run  through  this  from  side  to  side  two  or 
three  inches  below  the  surface  and  connected  with  the 
furnace  the  same  as  now.  Each  floor  being  separately 
connected  and  heated  would  make  it  possible  to  shut 
off  the  heat  or  turn  it  on  as  the  conditions  might 
demand.  This  would  keep  the  heater  in  the  basement 
and  do  away  with  radiators,  almost  if  not  entirely. 
If  cement  floors  are  used  under  this  plan  the  great 
objection  to  them  vanishes;  they  will  no  longer  \)c 
cold. 

The  house  in  general  should  be  built  so  that  the 
ventilation  can  be  fully  controlled ;  this  means  in  ;i 
wooden  house  good  building  paper  between  the  walls. 
Perfect  and  complete  ventilation  can  be  secured  by 
letting  in  a  stream  of  cold  air  into  a  jacket  about  the 


POINTERS  3.^1 

heater  and  conveying  it  thence  in  small  pipes  lo  everv 
part  of  the  house ;  or  window  ventilation  may  be  used 
quite  successfully  as  now  in  some  instances. 

Antitoxins  and  Animal  Serums. 

These  may  be  of  some  use  when  the  disease  has 
taken  hold  of  the  patient.  But  if  the  primary  work  of 
iiygiene  were  attended  to  properly  in  time,  there  would 
be  little  or  no  occasion  for  them.  To  illustrate:  take 
diphtheria;  if  the  proper  precautions  were  used  in  de- 
veloping- vital  resistance  people  would  not  take  cold, 
or  have  congested  throats,  and  then  the  germs  of 
diphtheria  could  not  multiply,  and  uo  antitoxin  would 
be  called  for. 

As  said  in  another  place,  a  strong,  well  person  can 
carry  diphtheria  germs  in  the  throat  for  several  days, 
until  they  perish  and  are  thrown  out,  and  suffer  no 
inconvenience  whatever.  It  is  a  weakened  throat  that 
allows  the  germs  to  develop  and  produce  the  disease. 
Shall  we  labor  for  the  prevention  of  the  disease,  which 
is  primary  hygiene,  or  shall  we  wait  for  a  chance  to 
stay  its  progress  after  well  begun?  It  seems  as  if 
this  work  of  hindering  the  disease  was  entirel>-  sec- 
ondary to  the  work  of  prevention  and  might  justly  be 
called  secondary  hygiene.  There  is  an  evil  in  this 
whole  search  for  artificial  specifics.  It  encourages  in- 
dulgence in  wr(Mig  habits,  and  carelessness  in  general, 
concerning  hygienic  measures.  Those  given  to  this 
work  cease  to  study  Primary  Hygiene,  and  the  pet)])le 
set  to  wondering  over  the  new  and  marvelous  inven- 
tions of  modern  science,  forget  the  simplicity  of  na- 
ture and  neglect  the  primary  i)reventive  agencies.  If 
the    same    energy    were    used    in    teaching   tlie    people 


332  ESSENTIALS  TO  LIFE  AND  HEALTH 

strictly  preventive  measures  there  would  soon  be  little 
use  for  serums  or  antitoxins.  These  criticisms  are 
true  in  general.  The  average  medical  man  seldom 
spends  any  time  teaching  preventive  measures.  His 
business  is  trying  to  cure  disease.  There  are  some 
grand  exceptions  to  these  sweeping  statements.  Many 
medical  men  in  connection  with  state  and  city  boards 
of  health  are  doing  all  that  lies  in  their  power  to  set 
before  the  people  the  true  primary  preventive  meas- 
ures. This  is  true  also  of  the  best  sanitariums.  One 
reason  why  the  writer  was  led  to  make  these  sweeping 
criticisms  was  his  attendance  at  a  State  Tuberculosis 
Convention  held  in  an  Eastern  city  of  first  rank  in  1907. 
Every  effort  was  made  to  show  how  to  cure  consump- 
tion and  some  few  things  about  ventilation  and  pure 
air  as  preventives,  but  not  one  word  in  any  way  to 
show  the  people  how  to  keep  from  taking  cold,  or  how 
to  emancipate  the  diaphragm  by  dispensing  with  waist 
bands,  which  are  the  real  beginnings  of  nearly  all  cases 
of  lung  consumption. 

The  tubercle  bacillus  does  not  trouble  sound,  vig- 
orous lungs.  It  is  only  when  the  lungs  are  debilitated 
by  disuse,  and  congested  by  colds,  that  they  become 
a  fertile  soil  for  the  bacillus.  And  not  a  word  was  said 
in  that  convention  concerning  the  dangers  in  the  dis- 
eased flesh  of  tuberculous  animals  that  are  slaughtered 
and  sold  in  every  market  in  America;  nor  anything 
concerning  diseased  milk  and  butter  and  cheese. 

It  may  not  be  kind  to  ask  the  medical  profession  to 
saw  off  the  limb  on  which  they  are  standing.  But 
some  of  their  own  number  will  use  the  saw  out  of 
pure  love  for  humanity,  and  they  will  be  the  men  of 
power  in  their  communities  in  the  years  to  come.     We 


POINTERS  .U3 

know  of  people  by  the  score  who  once  were  invalids, 
who  for  years  have  not  known  an  ache  or  pain,  jusi 
thru  results  of  Primary  Hygiene.  Thousands  are  now 
in  this  school,  and  more  are  entering  as  fast  as  things 
are  made  plain  and  clear  so  that  the  common  peopU' 
can  understand  An  ounce  of  Hygiene  is  worth  a  ton 
of  medicine. 

"To  be  Hygienic  in  spots  may  add  years  to  one's 
life."  A  moment  of  attention  to  causes  may  sa\  c 
years  of  suffering  with  all  the  consequences. 

A  dollar's  worth  of  time  spent  in  prevention  may 
save  a  fortune  that  w«iuld  later  be  vainly  spent  on 
sickness. 

lUit  is  it  a  mercenary  affair  after  all?  Is  not  life 
worth  living?  If  not  let  us  make  it  worth  living,  l)y 
living  it  right. 

Are  There  Other  Essentials  to  Life   and  Health  ? 

If  any  one  produces  anything  which  he  is  sure  is 
necessary  to  life  outside  of  the  true  Essentials,  he  must 
either  demonstrate  that  he  is  a  creator  or  else  admit 
that  his  discovery  may  be  classified  under  one  of  tlu' 
Seven  recognized  Essentials;  or  he  may  show  that 
there  is  another  essential  which  has  been  left  out  of 
the  account;  to  all  of  which  we  offer  no  objection. 
Let  the  work  of  simplifying  the  Science  of  Hygiene 
go  on.  The  people  cannot  know  too  much.  It  is  pos- 
sible some  may  for  want  of  real  wisdom  make  a  foolish 
use  of  what  they  know,  or  think  they  know.  This 
does  not  furnish  a  reason  why  cultured,  well  educated 
people  or  any  others  should  not  know  enough  to  keep 
well.  Knowing  the  terrors  of  sickness  and  disease  we 
persuade  our  fellow-men  to  be  true  to  their  Creator. 


.^34  ESSENTIALS    TO    LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

first  of  all  in  honoring  the  Laws  of  this  Life,  which  are 
based  on  right  relations  to  the  Seven  Essentials. 

Race  Suicide  and  Sexual  Sins. 

The  appeal  to  moral  principle  to  stay  the  progress 
of  these  evils  has  almost  lost  all  influence,  probably 
chiefly  because  so  many  professed  Christian  teachers 
have  become  adverse  critics  of  the  Bible,  from  which 
most  of  the  moral  appeal  has  been  drawn.  This  book, 
especially  the  moral  law  of  the  ten  commandments, 
has  nearly  ceased  to  have  any  restraining  influence  ex- 
cept with  a  few.  So  it  is  almost  useless  to  make  an 
appeal  on  moral  grounds  alone,  to  a  large  class  of  man- 
kind. 

The  natural  incipient  instincts  of  motherhood  are 
seen  in  every  little  girl,  and  were  they  allowed  to 
ripen  into  legitimate  fruition  in  mature  years, 
ma'ny  a  woman  who  in  her  middle  years  has 
tilled  an  untimely  grave,  or  languished  as  an 
invalid,  or  occupied  a  cell  in  some  insane  asylum 
or  prison,  might  have  been  surrounded  by  a  happy 
family  and  been  found  filling  an  honorable  and  useful 
place  in  sdcietv.  The  moral  restraints  must  be  heeded 
or  an  appeal  must  be  made  to  self  interest  to  stay  the 
terrible  tide.  If  fathers  and  mothers  would  inquire 
of  true  physicians  concerning  the  fruits  of  these 
criminal  ways,  and  set  the  facts  they  learn  before 
the  youth,  ere  they  are  contaminated  by  corrupt  ideas, 
what  a  world  of  suffering  might  be  saved.  The  youth- 
ful mind  once  impressed  with  the  consequences  of 
unlawful  sexual  intercourse  and  criminal  abortion, 
would  have  a  barrier  established  against  this  class 
of  crimes   that   no  ordinary   temptations   could   break 


POINTERS  335 

down.  To  fathers  and  mothers  more  tlian  to  any- 
one else  belongs  this  duty.  The  clergy  and  physicians 
will  not  be  held  guiltless  if  they  neglect  to  sound  the 
warning.  These  bloody  crimes  are  more  common 
among  so-called  Christian  nations  than  among  some 
of  the  less  enlightened. 

If  the  clergy  continue  t<>  break  down  the  moral  re- 
>traints,  through  treating  lightly  the  old  P)ible,  some 
one  must  hold  up  the  physical  danger  signals  and 
show  the  youth  some  of  the  horrible  results  of  sexual 
sin.  There  are  derelicts  and  wrecks  in  almost  every 
community,  that  ought  to  l)e  used  by  fathers  and 
mothers  as  object  lessons  to  warn  the  youth.  Unless 
parents  and  those  who  assume  to  guide  the  steps  of 
mankind  take  the  responsibility  of  shaping  youthful 
sentiment  more  than  they  are  now  doing,  we  shall 
soon  be  living  over  again  the  days  of  Sodom  and 
Gomorrah. 

True,  something  is  being  done,  but  not  the  tenth 
part  to  exalt  true  manhood  and  womanhood  and 
motherhood,  and  establish  the  sanctity  of  the  home. 
Parents,  keep  the  confidence  of  your  children  at  the 
cost  of  everything  else.  Trample  under  foot  the  cor- 
rupt sentiments  that  now  exist  in  what  is  sometimes 
called  good  society.  Make  your  children  know  that 
the  murder  of  the  unborn  is  a  detestable  crime,  no 
matter  what  social  circle  sanctions  it.  Educate  them 
to  find  pleasure  in  self  denial  in  lesser  matters,  and 
they  will  follow  your  example  of  sell  control  in  the 
sexual  relations  of  life.  Much  of  our  so-called  Chris- 
tian civilization  sentiment,  on  sexual  relations  would 
be  a  disgrace  to  savages.  Men  and  women  who  call 
themselves  civilized,  wreak  vengeance  witli  lynch  law 


336  ESSENTIALS    TO     LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

on  others,  for  crimes  no  worse  than  they  themselves 
are  guilty  of.  Let  men  first  learn,  then  practice,  and 
then  impress  on  their  offspring  the  lessons  of  self 
denial  and  control  that  their  own  better  instincts  ap- 
prove. Then  will  professing  Christians  and  others 
who  want  to  be  called  decent  have  less  for  which  to 
hang  their  heads  in  shame  than  they  now  have.  The 
cure  must  begin  at  home;  then  it  will  permeate  and 
renovate  society.  The  best  evidence  we  can  give 
in  favor  of  any  system  of  principles  is  the  evidence 
that  we  ourselves  believe  it,  and  this  evidence  is  the 
evidence  of  our   example. 

A  long  list  of  the  most  terrible  of  human  maladies 
is  the  direct  result  of  indifference  to  these  princi- 
ples. Men,  so  loathsome  with  corruption  that  it  is 
more  than  hardship  to  care  for  them,  are  found  among 
the  disobedient.  And  physicians  hardened  by  contact 
with  such  cases  attempt  to  fatten  oft'  these  miserable 
wretches.  To  be  sure  many  of  those  who  do  this  are 
called  quacks.  You  can  see  their  advertisements  in 
every  newspaper.  Rut  there  are  others.  These  physi- 
cians ought  to  publish  to  young  men  and 
women  and  fathers  and  mothers  the  awfulness  of  the 
results  with  which  they  are  dealing.  But  will  they  ? 
Probably  not.  They  will  most  of  them  wait  for  a 
further  harvest  of  similar  cases  to  ripen.  Disappoint 
them,  young  man,  young  woman ;  disappoint  them  liy 
learning  to  crucify  the  flesh  with  the  affections  and 
lusts. 

Love  of  Life. 

No  sane  natural  man  ever  committed  suicide  and  no 
dull,    stupid,   besotted    half-wrecked    specimen    of   hu- 


POINTERS  337 

mauity  was  ever  capable  of  appreciating  eternal  life. 
Men  blunt  their  own  sensibilities  with  drugs  or  nar- 
cotics before  attempting  to  crush  out  life  in  them- 
selves or  others.  To  despise  and  cast  away  life,  a 
preparation  of  mind  is  necessary,  and  the  opposite 
preparation  of  mind  and  of  the  nervous  system  is  nec- 
essary before  any  of  Adam's  fallen  race  can  rise  to 
a  full  appreciation  of  life,  here  and  hereafter. 

No  man  can  lightly,  thoughtlessly  part  with  a  thing 
that  is  and  has  been  a  pleasure  to  him,  nor  can  he  long 
tolerate  the  possession  of  that  which  brings  onl}' 
wretchedness  and  continual  dissatisfaction.  This  en- 
ables us  to  understand  why  some  men  commit  suicide 
and  why  so  many  fail  to  have  any  interest  in  the  life  to 
come.  Occasionally  some  individual,  well  instructed 
in  the  hope  of  the  life  set  forth  ni  the  gospel,  rises 
superior  to  his  physical  suffering  and  triumphs  even 
at  the  last  moment.  But  mental  dullness,  stupor  and 
decay,  whether  from  gross  habits  of  life  or  from  dis- 
appointment, sorrow  or  anxiety,  has  only  a  depressing 
effect  and  lessens  the  hold  on  life.  So  does  the  indug- 
gence  of  anger,  hate,  jealousy,  envy  and  every  evil 
thought.     Worry  and  anxiety  are  laden  wath  death. 

.So  it  must  be  plain  that  he  who  would  love  life  and 
see  good  days  must  not  only  refrain  his  lips  from  evil 
and  his  tongue  from  speaking  guile,  but  have  his  men- 
tal condition  back  of  these  actions  pure  and  clean  and 
hopeful.  iUit  if  he  would  have  this  self-control  hv 
must  take  such  care  of  his  body  as  will  tend  all  the 
time  to  keep  it  in  a  healthy  normal  condition,  so  that 
the  mind  can  partake  of  the  bodily  comfort.  The  all 
around  care  of  this  life  and  its  relationships  is  essential 


338  ESSENTIAT^S    TO    LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

to  a  preparation  for  and  appreciation  of  the  life  to 
come. 

The  writer  can  never  blot  from  his  mind  the  memo- 
ries of  childhood  years,  when  the  family  indulged  in 
pork  and  stimulants  and  all  the  abominations  of 
heathen  cookery  in  a  civilized  so-called  Christian  land, 
and  how  thru  bodily  wretchedness  there  was  an  ever- 
present  tendency  to  contemplate  suicide.  Cut  the 
knowledge  of  the  principles  contained  in  this  book 
came  into  the  family  and  were  accepted  and  what  a 
marvelous  change !  The  lives  that  had  been  hamp- 
ered by  violations  of  natural  law  began  to  bloom  with 
health  and  comfort.  Every  one  in  the  family  was  lib- 
erated from  the  bondage  of  a  misery  that  liad  brooded 
like  an  incubus  over  the  household.  This  was  forty- 
five  years  ago.  The  health  of  all  seemed  to  "spring 
forth  speedily"  and,  with  the  writer,  has  continued  to 
improve  constantly.  Thoughts  of  suicide  ceased  with- 
in a  few  days  and  the  question,  "Is  life  worth  living?" 
has  been  answered  in  the  aflfirmative. 

Like  any  other  thing  on  earth  life  must  be  used  right 
or  it  ceases  to  be  appreciated.  Those  who  are  indif- 
ferent to  this  life  will  never  care  enough  about  the 
life  to  come  to  obtain  it.  It  costs  self-control  and  cool, 
careful,  deliberate  planning,  to  keep  in  order  such  a 
piece  of  mechanism  as  the  human  body.  He  who 
loves  life  will  take  the  same  care  of  it  as  of  anything 
else  he  loves  and  when  his  sensibilities  are  brightened 
up  to  a  keen  sense  of  appreciation  he  will  be  in  a  con- 
dition to  appreciate  the  life  to  come  and  the  prepara- 
tion for  it.     Life  is  more  than  mere  existence  here. 


POINTERS  .^^39 

Who  are  Safe  Guides? 

The  safest  guide  is  one  who  is  best  acquainted  witii 
the  way,  other  things  being  equal.  But  don't  forget 
that  it  is  much  more  sensible  to  keep  in  the  way,  than 
to  permit  one's  self  to  go  astray  and  then  hire  a  guide 
to  get  you  back  into  the  right  path..  We  have  endeav- 
ored to  point  out  the  way.  If  it  has  been  clearly  done 
the  reader  will  perceive  that,  to  be  an  all-around  guide, 
one  must  have  a  good  practical  working  knowledge  of 
the  Seven  Essentials  to  Life.  He  may  not  be  defi- 
cient in  one  and  be  fully  equipped.  Look  over  the 
situation  for  a  moment.  Here  are  those  who  cure 
everything  by  electricity,  (ir  ]n-ctcnd  to;  and  here  are 
others  who  use  Osteopath}-  or  Massage  for  all  cases. 
And  others  treat  everything  with  hot  and  cold  water. 
Others  assure  you  that  all  you  need  is  a  system  of 
electric  light  appliances.  Another  does  all  his  cures 
with  the  Russian  bath.  Another  with  the  hot  air 
appliances.  Another  takes  his  cure-all  out  of  a  bottle  ; 
another  pretends  to  accomplish  everything  by  diet  or 
physical    training.     Some    use    only    mental    agencies. 

Some  combine  two  or  more  of  these  natural  agencies. 
It  is  not  difficult  to  see  that  all  these  are  very  partial 
methods.  While  each  one  may  find  scores  of  cases 
that  he  can  help,  yet  there  are  many  others  for  which 
he  could  d(i  little  or  nothing.  The  men  of  value  and 
power  in  this  work  will  have  all  these  aids  to  cure 
at  hand,  and  will  know  how  to  adapt  those  needed  to 
the  case  in  hand.  They  will  know  how  to  put  the 
healing  environment  in  order  and  place  the  patient 
under  the  l)est  possible  conditions  to  help  nature  in 
throwing  off  the  disease.  The  wisest  thing  for  those 
to   do   who   arc   partial    in    the    use   of   remedies   is   to 


340  ESSENTIALS    TO    LIFE     AND    HEALTH 

enlarge  their  capabilities  by  increasing  their  knowl- 
edge of  the  essentials  of  life  and  health.  And  the 
wisest  thing  the  people  can  do  is  to  patronize  those 
who  have  the  broadest  training  and  the  most  complete 
facilities. 

But  it  is  not  enough  to  know  that  a  man  has  had 
a  medical  education.  Physicians,  after  all,  are  born, 
not  made.  We  have  musicians  and  artists  who  are 
the  masters  of  the  profession  who,  like  the  old  negro, 
"Were  not  colored,  but  were  born  so."  So  there 
are  leading  men  in  the  profession  today  who  never 
had  a  full  training  in  college.  They  just  naturally 
took  to  caring  for  the  sick,  got  a  county  license 
perhaps  at  first  and  have  had  success  all  their  lives. 
It  makes  a  difference  whether  a  man  is  just  naturally 
following  the  calling  for  which  he  was  gifted  by 
nature  or  whether  he  is  in  the  business  just  for  the 
shekels. 

The  gifts  of  healings  were  set  in  the  church  of  Jesus 
Christ  with  other  gifts  necessary  for  the  welfare  of 
humanity.  Let  the  church  so  conduct  herself  that 
this  gift  with  others  may  be  restored  ;  then  will  we 
have  heaven  appointed  men  to  preside  over  our  hos- 
pitals and  sanitariums,  and  also  to  administer  healing 
power  in  the  homes  of  the  people. 


CHAPTER  XL 
What  Shall  We  Call  This  System  of  Cure? 

The  use  of  water  has  already  been  named  Hydro- 
pathy, and  later  Hydro-therapy.  The  use  of  light  is 
Photo-therapy,  attention  to  food  has  been  called  Med- 
ical Dietetics,  and  exercise  is  called  IMedico-Physical- 
Therapeutics,  mental  rest  cure  is  Psycho-therapy.  No 
one  yet  has  invented  a  name  for  tlie  breathing  cure 
better  than  Lung  Gymnastics  or  Pneuma-therapy. 

We  have  set  forth  a  system  which  includes  every- 
thing on  which  human  life  and  comfort  depends.  It 
applies  the  laws  of  prevention  to  the  work  of  restora- 
tion. Hygiene  is  the  name  of  the  science  of  preven- 
tion. When  we  make  cure  depend  on  the  use  of  pre- 
ventive agents — on  Hygiene — can  we  do  better  than 
to  call  our  science  of  cure  HYGIEO-THERAPY? 
This  term  has  been  in  use  a  number  of  years  and  is 
the  most  fitting  of  any  yet  coined.  This  is  cure  by 
prevention  and  the  removal  of  causes.  It  is  a  system 
which  has  little  use  for  dangerous  experimentation 
and  guess  work.  It  is,  in  short,  The  Science  of  Cure. 
It  is  the  knowledge  of  prevention  and  cure,  set  in 
order,  simplified,  classified;  and  makes  use  of  every 
known  preventive  and  healing  agency,  and  exalts  sur- 
gery to  its  true  position  under  God's  great  Law  of 
Rest. 

ft  is  so  simple  that  some  people  ignore  it  and  some 


342  ESSENTIALS    TO    LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

medical  men  make  light  of  it,  but  yet  it  is  growing 
into  favor  because  it  has  been  forced  upon  the  world 
by  a  few  faithful,  earnest  leaders  among  men.  Some 
of  these  have  brought  forward  but  one  idea  at  a  time 
and  have  pushed  their  ideas  so  vigorously  that  they 
were  called  cranks.  But  great  truths  suffer  no  loss 
because  of  epithets,  and  the  system  has  continued  to 
grow  until  it  has  reached  important  proportions,  and 
has  a  world-wide  recognition. 

A  few  years  since  the  writer  was  asked  by  a  leading 
medical  man,  "What  is  your  mission?"  The  answer 
was,  "We  are  engaged  in  the  work  of  trying  to  teach 
the  people  how  to  take  care  of  their  health;  in  short, 
how  to  keep  well."  He  replied,  "Well,  you  have  un- 
dertaken a  thankless  task."  That  is  the  way  many 
doctors  regard  Hygiene. 

Like  the  man  who  was  asked,  when  his  house  was 
leaking,  why  he  did  not  shingle  it,  replied,  "In  fair 
weather  it  does  not  need  shingling,  and  when  it  rains 
I  can't  shingle  it."  So  the  greatest  objection  to 
hygiene,  is  when  one  is  well,  he  don't  need  to  care 
for  his  health  and  when  he  is  sick  he  has  none  to  care 
for,  and  therefore  cannot.  And  the  only  other  objec- 
tion is'  that  it  is  more  trouble  and  takes  more  time 
and  brains  to  use  Hygienic  precautions  and  remedies 
than  it  docs  to  swallow  a  few  doses  of  poison.  This 
is  the  way  many  people  view  the  health  question. 
l')Ut  in  spite  of  this  the  system  is  forging  ahead  won- 
derfully. For  fifty  years  the  writer  has  watched  the 
progress  of  this  hygienic  movement.  Mighty  things 
have  been  accomplished.  Thousands  of  people  are 
enlisted  in  this  w^ork  all  over  the  world  and  scores  of 
sanitariums  are  in  operation  where  this  system  of  prin- 


WHAT  SHALL  WE  CALL  THIS  SYSTEM  343 

ciples  prevail ;  and  thousands  of  homes  are  prepared 
to  help  their  neighbors  into  a  knowledge  of  how  to 
take  care  of  this  life.  Many  noble  scientific  physicians 
are  heart  and  soul  in  the  work,  and  earnestly  engaged 
in  original  scientific  research,  both  in  America  and 
in  Iuirni)e;  and  now  they  are  extending  their  field  of 
operation  into  Asia  and  the  Dark  Continent.  .Australia 
has  responded  to  the  voice  of  reform  and  thousands 
there  and  in  New  Zealand  are  returning  to  obedience 
to  Natural  Law.  It  is  a  glorious  Christian  w'ork ;  free 
from  all  occultism  and  mystery,  from  quackery  and 
humbug.  The  subject  of  Life  is  dealt  with  as  rea- 
sonably and  sensibly  as  any  other  theme  on  this 
planet,  and  common  people  can  grasp  the  principles 
and  apply  them  successfully. 

One  who  has  been  benefited  catches  the  spirit  of 
benevolence  that  is  the  soul  of  the  whole  system  and 
labors  to  pass  on  the  blessing  to  others.  The  word 
of  God  to  Abraham  is  becoming  the  inspiration  of  the 
movement,  "I  will  bless  thee  and  thou  shall  be  a  bless- 
ing." It  is  a  pleasure  to  the  writer  to  help  pass  it 
on  in  the  written  form  to  thousands  and  millions  who 
have  not  yet  heard  the  welcome  sound.  There  is 
life  and  tranquillity  for  thousands  who  now  sufifer. 
There  are  fields  of  service  opening  before  hundreds 
of  young  men  and  women  who  are  learning  to  apply 
these  principles  to  the  healing  of  the  sick. 

There  are  greater  things  yet  in  store  for  the  world 
along  this  line.  May  the  reader  catch  the -spirit  of 
this  reform  and  become  an  integral  part  of  the  system, 
and  a  full  and  complete  partaker  of  the  life  that  now 
is,  and  finally  have  this  life  translated  into  that  which 
is  to  come,      riun  we  shall  know  better,  the  purposes 


344  ESSENTIALS  TO  LIFE  AND    HEALTH 

of  existence,  and  untrammelled  by  infirmity  study  the 
sciences  of  creation  and  salvation,  through  the  unend- 
ing years  of  eternal  life ;  in  a  land  "Where  the  in- 
habitants shall  not  say  I  am  sick,"  and  where  "None 
shall  hurt  or  destroy  in  all  God's  holy  mountain ;" 
where  "There  shall  be  no  more  sickness,  nor  sorrow, 
nor  sighing,  nor  any  more  pain."  Where  all  will 
partake  of  the  tree  of  life  and  be  like  Him  who  is  the 
author  of  life.  "And  this  is  life  eternal,  that  they  might 
know  Thee,  the  only  true  God,  and  Jesus  Christ  whom 
Thou  hast  sent."  "For  bodily  exercise  profiteth  for 
a  little  season,  but  Godliness  is  profitable  in  all  things, 
having  the  promise  of  life  that  now  is,  and  of  that 
which  is  to  come." 

When  rightly  viewed  even  "The  heavens  declare 
the  glory  of  God  and  the  firmament  showeth  His 
handiwork.  Day  unto  day  uttereth  speech  and  night 
unto  night  showeth  knowledge ;"  and  "The  invisible 
things  of  Him  since  the  creation  of  the  world  are 
clearly  seen,  being  perceived  through  the  things  that 
are  made ;  even  His  everlasting  power  and  divinity, 
that  they  may  be  without  excuse."  (Romans  1  :20, 
Am.  Rev.)  Thus  if  our  vision  is  clear  we  may  see 
the  character  of  God  in  all  His  works,  and  we  certainly 
ought  to  see  it  in  those  things  that  are  nearest  to  us — 
the  Laws  of  our  being  on  which  life  immediately 
depends.  And  then  we  may  know^  if  we  prove  to  Him 
that  we  appreciate  this  life  and  its  divinely  appointed 
environments,  that  He  will  surely  bestow  the  life  that 
is  to  come.  The  best  proof  that  we  can  give  that 
we  are  in  harmony  with  Him.  is  to  honor  Him  with 
the  life  He  has  given  us.  If  men  could  only  grasp 
the  thought  that  in  dealing  with  light,  water,  air  and 


WHAT  SHALL  WE  CALL  THIS  SYSTEM  345 

food  and  their  own  bodies  and  minds,  they  are 
dealing  with  the  things  of  God,  and  that  there  is 
a  Divine  inspiration  in  knowing  how  to  appreciate 
this  life,  then  would  they  reach  beyond  and  feel  the 
power  of  those  great  moral  truths  that  shine  in  the 
law  spoken  from  Sinai,  and  w^ere  exemplified  in  the 
life  of  that  Alan  of  Nazareth. 

Men  of  Value. 

The  man  who  saves  the  people  by  preventive  meas- 
ures from  the  ravages  of  an  epidemic,  is  worth  al- 
most infinitely  more  to  a  community  than  the  man 
who  saves  the  lives  of  half  the  people  from  the  scourge 
after  it  has  come.  The  first  is  using  hygienic  knowl- 
edge primarily  for  prevention.  Few  people  see  or 
understand  the  value  of  his  work,  even  though  he 
may  have  saved  hundreds  of  lives.  The  other  man 
is  using  hygienic  knowledge  secondarily,  for  cure; 
the  people  in  this  case  feel  their  need  of  help  because 
the  scourge  is  upon  them,  and  if  this  man  saves  a 
small  portion  of  the  community  1)}^  his  skill,  he  will 
be  lauded  to  the  heavens  while  he  lives,  and  have  a 
monument  erected  to  his  memory  after  he  is  dead,  just 
because  the  people  personally  experienced  the  neces- 
sities of  their  case. 

We  need  more  primary  hygiene.  More  true  unself- 
ish workers  who  are  willing  to  labor  for  humanity 
and  take  God  for  at  least  part  of  the  pay.  The  people 
must  be  made  intelligent  in  regard  to  this  life  and 
be  taught  to  appreciate  its  ]Mivileges  and  obligations 
or  they  will  ne\-er  l)e  ]>rc])ared  for  the  life  to  come. 

Back  to  Nature. 

We  hear  the  cry  on  every  hand  "Back  to  Nature." 

28 


346  ESSENTIALS    TO    LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

But  what  is  nature?  It  is  undefinable,  like  the  laws 
of  life;  only  in  the  light  of  the  classification  we  have 
used  in  this  book.  Nature  is  our  environment  on  this 
earth  as  expressed  in  the  Seven  Essentials  which  pro- 
duce and  sustain  life.  We  ascribe  almost  everything 
to  Nature.  We  may  become  idolators  before  we  are 
aware,  if  we  are  not  already.  Whence  came  nature? 
From  the  hand  of  Jehovah,  through  Jesus  Christ. 

Quackery. 

We  have  thousands  of  faddists  in  our  times  all  cry- 
ing "Back  to  Nature."  One  has  a  health  food  which 
if  he  can  sell  at  his  price  will  make  him  a  millionaire 
in  short  order.  We  are  not  condemning  the  foods ; 
some  of  them  are  most  excellent.  Another  has  a  sys- 
tem of  physical  training  on  which  everything  depends, 
but  the  price  is  prohibitive  for  the  common  people. 
xA-nother  has  some  patent  appliance,  which  is  all  im- 
portant. But  you  may  not  receive  the  benefit  without 
paying  a  special  price  for  his  consent.  Another  has 
a  secret  remedy.  Another  is  offering  for  sale  special 
skill  at  an  exhorbitant  price.  And  still  another  who  is 
better  organized  and  therefore  stronger  is  fixing  up 
the  legal  safe-guards  so  that  the  people  are  to  be 
protected  from  everybody  but  himself.  All  these 
methods  have  in  them  the  very  essence  of  quackery, 
which  is  self  advancement  through  money  gain  ;  fat- 
tening ofif  the  miseries  and  necessities  of  mankind. 
Do  we  not  need  a  dififercnt  class  of  men  to  care  for 
suffering  humanity?  Men  moved  by  unselfish  Chris- 
tian impulses?  Men  who  will  connect  their  suffering 
fellows  with  God  through  nature,  rather  than  with 
themselves?     There  are  men,  plenty  of  them,  skilled 


WHAT  SHALL  WE  CALL  THIS  SYSTEM  347 

men  too,  who  are  cinite  fully  perpared  to  help  hu- 
manity, so  far  as  intellectual  acquirements  are  con- 
cerned, but  the  motive  of  money  getting  prevents  their 
bearing  responsibility  in  an  unselfish  cause.  And  there 
is  a  multitude  of  men  and  women,  both  professional 
and  other  who  are  laboring  with  might  and  main  to 
guard  the  people  through  education  from  the  efifects 
of  ignorance.  The  people  do  not  need  to  be  protected 
from  the  other  fellow,  once  they  know  how  to  care 
for  themselves.  These  professional  men  are  Doctors 
of  Hygiene  in  reality  if  not  in  name,  and  so  are  many 
of  the  people,  and  there  ought  to  be  more  of  them 
trained  and  skilled  in  the  art  of  prevention.  There 
is  a  mighty  work  to  be  done  and  the  people  are  being 
aroused.  Shall  not  we  personally  be  in  the  front  rank 
in  the  matter  of  individual  hygiene? 

Some  day  we  and  our  friends  will  awaken  fully  to 
the  idea  that  Hygiene,  or  better,  Hygieo-therapy,  is 
prevention  all  the  time,  while  the  old  medical  notion 
is  only  a  doubtful  prevention  perhaps  at  the  eleventh 
hour.  Then  will  the  Hygieo-therapist  be  honored  and 
exalted.  This  system  of  hygiene  is  the  true  founda- 
tion of  all  efforts  for  relieving  human  physical  suf- 
fering. 

No  argument  is  needed  to  show  that  the  sciences  of 
Medicine,  Surgery  and  Bacteriology  are  only  parts  of 
the  great  science  of  Hygiene.  The  giving  of  poisons 
internally  as  medicine  will  some  day  be  left  out.  It 
is  not  seventy-five  years  since  the  use  of  water  in 
fevers  was  absolutely  forbidden  by  the  Afedical  Pro- 
fession and  strong  poisons  used  in  abundance.  This 
giving  of  poisons  has  continued  to  be  quite  a  flourish- 
ing part  of  the  business,  but  the  time  has  at  last  conu- 


348  l^SSENTIALS    TO    LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

when  thousands  look  npon  the  u.se  of  poison  druj^s 
as  a  sort  of  dignified  system  of  guess  work.  There 
is  no  sound  science  in  it.  bacteriology  and  the  study 
of  germicides  and  antiseptics  will  increase  in  im- 
portance. So  will  every  branch  of  true  hygienic 
science  until  temperatures  by  means  of  water,  and 
antiseptics  will  be  the  only  things  used  in  fevers.  \Miat 
changes  liave  already  ccTuie!  and  still  others  are  over- 
due. 

Study  This  Subject. 

Go  back  and  considei  the  classification,  under  the 
tabular  views.  Study  it.  Criticise  it.  Take  it  apart, 
and  ]nit  it  together.  You  cannot  lose  any  of  the  parts; 
it  hangs  together  like  a  chain.  The  more  you  consider 
the  classification  of  all  things  curati\e  under  the  Seven 
Foundations  of  nature,  the  more  will  the  subject  en- 
large upon  your  hands,  and  the  more  wdll  you  sec  its 
completeness  and  simplicity.  The  writer  has  no 
greater  wish  for  himself  than  that  he  may  live  to  see 
this  complete  system  of  Hygiene  accepted  by  sound- 
minded  people,  until  everywhere  the  cr)'  shall  rise 
to  heaven,  "O,  God,  send  us  a  knowledge  of  this  life. 
Teach  us  how  to  appreciate  it.  Teach  us  how  to  care 
for  it.  iViake  us  sense  Thy  love  and  power  that  placed 
us  here.  Help  us  make  this  life  the  beginnings  of  the 
life  to  come.  For  Christ's  sake  who  has  created  and 
is  ready  to  redeem  all  things  in  Thy  great  Name." 
And  let  this  prayer  begin  to  be  answered  in  every 
reader  by  the  redemption  from  the  violation  of  every 
known  natural  law,  which  shall  follow  in  every  in- 
dividual heart  and  life.  I  entreat  you,  therefore,  to 
present   our  bodies    a    living    sacrifice,    holy.   acce])l- 


WHAT  SHALL  WE  CALL  THIS  SYSTEM  349 

able  unto  God,  which  is  your  reasonable  service ;  and 
may  you  not  be  any  longer  conformed  after  the  cus- 
toms and  habits  of  this  world,  but  may  you  be  trans- 
formed, carried  over  into  a  new  order  of  thinking,  by 
the  renewing  of  your  minds  so  that  you  shall  dem- 
onstrate in  your  lives  what  is  that  good  and  acceptable 
and  perfect  will  of  God,  both  now  and  evermore. 
(Adapted  from  Rom.  12:1.  2.) 


CHAPTER  Xll. 
Habits. 

Habit  is  any  course  of  action  that  we  come  b\  prac- 
tice to  do  without  any  immediate  planning  or  pur- 
posing. When  the  whole  community  or  body  of  so- 
ciety follow  any  set  order  of  action,  or  individual  habit 
becomes  universal,  this  action  is  called  custom. 

Habits  sometimes  come  from  hereditary  tendencies. 
A  child  may  inherit  a  condition  of  the.nervotis  sys- 
tem from  its  parents  that  will  clamor  for  some  stimu- 
lant or  narcotic  just  as  .soon  as  the  child  gets  the 
smell  or  taste  of  the  article.  We  have  known  of  a 
child,  still  creeping  upon  the  floor,  having  such  a  taste 
for  tobacco  that  it  would  nurse  a  plug  of  the  old- 
fashioned  kind,  as  some  other  children  would  nurse 
their  thumb.  We  have  known  of  other  children  who 
would  cry  for  liquor  just  as  soon  as  they  got  the  first 
smell  of  it,  and  drink  it  down  with  a  marvelous  relish. 
This  perverted  appetite  came  as  naturally  to  the  child 
as  the  taste  for  food ;  because  the  taste  had  come  to 
possess  the  nervous  system  of  the  parent  just  as  much 
as  the  appetite  for  food,  and  sometimes  even  more 
fully.  Any  prevailing  passion,  or  artistic  taste,  or  any 
tendency,  cither  natural  or  acquired,  that  takes  pos- 
session of  the  parent  or  parents  is  very  likely  to  find 
full   expression   in   the   offspring. 

We  have  known  a  few  cases  where  the  father  was 


HABITS  351 

addicted  to  drink  and  the  mother  had  a  perfect  horror 
and  loathing  for  the  stuff  that  was  debasing  her  hus- 
band, and  the  mother's  mental  state  prevailed,  and 
some  of  the  children  came  into  the  world  with  a  hatred 
for  liquor  in  every  form.  The  very  smell  of  it  was 
abhorrent,  and  the  thoughts  of  it  afterward  were  re- 
pulsive. 

Habits  of  appetite  and  artistic  taste  often  skip  over 
to  the  second  generation.  They  may  miss  in  the  first 
offspring  without  any  manifestation,  and  appear  in 
all  their  fullness,  in  the  grandchild. 

All  bad  habits,  thus  called  hereditary,  might  have 
been  minimized,  counteracted  or  trained  out  of  the  in- 
dividual, or  in  other  words,  the  individual  might  have 
been  trained,  away  from  the  tendency  to  indulge  in 
these  things  by  keeping  the  environment  such  that  he 
would  not  learn  by  experience  the  evil  bent  of  his 
own  nature  till  such  time  as  moral  character  was 
strong  enough  to  resist  all  temptations  to  the  evil 
course.  Thus  while  heredity  plays  an  important  part 
in  the  development  of  character,  it  is  by  no  nueans  the 
all  powerful  element.  For  training  has  accomplished 
the  development  of  self  control  in  thousands  who 
would  have  otherwise  gone  down  to  degradation  and 
ruin. 

Habits  are  more  largely  dependent  on  example  than 
on  heredity.  If  the  child  is  so  handled,  cuil)cd  and 
trained,  that  he  develops  a  loving  respect  and  confi- 
dence for  and  in  the  parent,  that  parent's  example  will 
do  more  to  shape  his  future  course  thati  all  the  words 
that  ever  could  be  spoken.  The  child  will  pattern  after 
the  character  that  he  reveres.     The  tones  of  voice  and 


352  ESSENTIALS    TO    LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

gestures,  the  way  the  parent  walks  and  all  his  general 
manners  will  find  expression  in  the  son. 

If  the  parents  are  self  controlled  at  the  table  and 
diligent  in  the  labors  of  life  and  regular  in  their  habits 
of  recreation  and  rest,  the  child  will  be  molded  into  the 
same  ways  of  doing,  and  will  be  almost  as  sure  to  fol- 
low in  the  right  ways,  in  these  respects,  as  one  blade 
of  grass  is  to  grow  up  like  another. 

If  the  father  is  tricky  in  his  dealings,  always  putting 
up  a  deception  in  every  package  of  produce  he  carries 
to  market  and  always  bragging  about  beating  some 
one  in  trade;  if  he  shuns  labor  as  much  as  possible 
and  goes  to  the  races  and  bets  on  all  sorts  of  games, 
the  young  man  will  almost  surely  walk  in  his  crooked 
ways. 

If  the  mother  is  always  nice  and  lovely  to  all  the 
neighbors  when  they  come  to  see  her,  but  wishes  she 
might  never  see  them  again  when  their  backs  are 
turned,  the  daughter  will  doubtless  improve  on  her 
mother's  social  customs  by  becoming  more  deceitful 
and  heartless  than  she  ever  was.  If  the  parents  take 
the  down  hill  road,  they  will  give  a  momentum  to 
the  progress  of  their  dependents  in  that  same  road. 
The  restraints  of  respectable  society,  or  of  the  church 
or  Sabbath  school,  may  p^ossibly  exercise  an  influence 
that  will,  in  a  measure,  counteract  the  vile  hoine  in- 
fluences; l)ut  it  will  be  a  most  marvelous  thing  if 
some  of  the  home  habits  do  not  stick  to  the  young 
men  and  women  of  the  family  like  the  leprosy. 

There  is  nothing  like  example,  nothing  like  the  con- 
tinuous object  lessons  in  the  home  kindergarten  to 
shape  the  habits  of  life;  and  the  aggregate  of  a  man's 
habits   are   what   compose   his   life.      Life    is    made   of 


HABITS  353 

experiences  and  many  of  life's  individual  experiences 
are   fixed   habits. 

We  often  speak  of  mental  and  physical  habits,  but 
there  is  no  clear  line  of  distinction  between  the  two; 
for  every  physical  habit  exists  first  in  thought.  It  is 
thought  which  forms  the  physical  course  of  conduct. 
x\nd  every  mental  habit  has  its  index  in  the  physical 
part  of  the  man,  and  there  makes  a  permanent  im- 
pression which  it  may  take  months  to  remove  after 
the  mental  habit  has  been  changed. 

Here  is  a  young  man  who  makes  up  his  mind  to 
learn  to  use  tobacco.  He  has  no  taste  for  it,  but  he 
wants  to  be  like  some  other  young  men,  or  like  father. 
So  he  resolutely  sets  about  conquering  his  dislike 
for  the  nauseous  weed.  After  a  few  weeks  he  suc- 
ceeds, and  for  years  he  uses  the  narcotic,  noticing  all 
the  time  a  growing  tendency  on  the  part  of  the  habit. 
At  the  age  of  forty  or  forty-fi\e  years  he  becomes 
convinced  that  tobacco  is  injuring  him.  and  he  sets 
about  getting  rid  of  it.  But  he  finds  more  resolution 
needed  now  in  cutting  it  off  than  he  did  in  grafting 
it  into  his  system.  He  may  succeed  in  leaving  out  the 
tobacco  itself,  but  he  finds  himself  chewing  toothpicks 
and  sticks  and  gum.  His  mouth  is  lonesome  without 
something  to  do.  Frequently  he  finds  himself  feeling 
for  his  tobacco  box,  especially  if  he  is  laboring  under 
a  little  excitement.  The  after  effects  of  this  iiabit 
may  stay  by  a  man  for  many  months. 

In  this  article  we  arc  speaking  only  of  \()luntary 
habits  and  make  no  reference  to  those  habits  of  the 
involuntary  system  like  yawning,  gaping,  etc.,  or  like 
shaking  palsy,  a   weakened   condition   of  the   involun- 


354  ESSENTIALS    TO    LIFE    AND    HEALrTH 

tary  nervous  system,  where  the  action  is  entirely  in- 
dependent of  the  will. 

All  voluntary  habits  begin  in  the  thought  and  will 
and  may  perpetuate  themselves  in  the  man's  nervous 
and  physical  systems  for  a  life  time  without  any  fur- 
ther effort  on  the  part  of  the  mind  after  the  hal^it  is 
once   formed. 

The  habit  becomes  the  governor  of  the  man  and 
his  will,  and  all  his  powers  of  being  obey  its  behests. 
This  is  where  the  wrong  of  the  whole  habit  business 
is  fully  manifest. 

There  is  only  one  habit,  outside  of  those  on  which 
life  is  immediately  dependent,  wdiich  is  safe,  and  that 
is  the  great  habit  of  self  control.  Under  this  is  a  host 
of  lesser  habits  which  relate  to  every  marked  tendency 
and  every  propensity  of  the  entire  man. 

Self  control  once  acquired  converts  a  weakling  into 
a  mighty  man,  "He  that  ruleth  his  spirit  is  better 
than  he  that  taketh  a  city." 

It  is  not  acquired  in  a  day,  nor  a  month,  nor  a  year. 
It  requires  the  efforts  of  faithful  parents  working 
together  diligently  for  years  to  approximate  closely 
to  the  desired  result  in  their  offspring.  And  the  most 
important  lesson  of  all,  the  youth  must  be  made  to 
know  that -it  is  on  his  own  voluntary  efforts  along  this 
line  that  his  future  success  depends.  Example  and 
precept  and  more  example;  and  outside  precept  again 
wrought  into  the  parental  example  and  kept  before 
the  child  mind  as  objects  worthy  of  imitation ;  all  this 
and  sometimes  mingled  with  it  restraints  and  cha^tise- 
ments  of  a  painful  kind  must  be  brought  to  bear  in 
order  to  establish  in  the  being  this  one  mighty  power 


HABITS  355 

of  character.  Self  Control.  Every  man  is  strong  just 
in  proportion  as  he  is  master  of  himself. 

The  innate  tendencies  must  be  curbed  and  controlled 
or  man  becomes  brutal.  Oliver  Wendell  Holmes  is 
credited  with  saying  that  "Every  man  is  an  omnibus 
in  which  all  his  ancestors  ride." 

Some  of  those  ancestors  have  bequeathed  to  us 
tendencies  to  some  very  undesirable  traits  of  char- 
acter; others  have  passed  on  to  their  posterity  some 
noble  longings  and  aspirations.  It  is  for  us  to  fall 
in  line  with  right  methods  and  be  trained  in  the  home 
life  in  lessons  of  self  denial,  fortitude  and  patience, 
which  are  the  foundations  of  all  self  control.  Ex- 
ample and  precept  for  the  daily  life,  and  chastisements 
unaccompanied  with  wrath,  for  the  stubborn  moods 
are  the  only  true  methods.  "A  child  left  to  himself 
bringeth  his  mother  to  shame." 

And  there  must  be  times  for  personal  reflection 
from  childhood  up.  The  meditation  or  ''middle  think- 
ing," the  thinking  that  comes  in  between  the  tasks 
and  trials  of  life  and  the  more  severe  lessons,  must 
not  be  dispensed  with.  It  will  give  opportunity  for  the 
nobler  aspirations  to  assert  themselves.  The  better 
longing  must  have  careful  cultivation,  and  the  quiet 
hour  of  reading  in  God's  Word,  studying  His  works  in 
Nature,  and  pouring  out  the  soul  before  Him,  will 
supply  the  needs  of  the  spiritual  nature.  Without  this 
quiet  daily  hour  of  training  the  soul  will  know  little 
or  nothing  of  that  spiritual  fellowship  which  is  so 
absolutely  essential  to  a  perfect  slate  of  peace  and 
repose.  This  daily  resting  place  will  become  the  oasis 
on  life's  desert  to  which  we  may  resort  for  rcfresliing 
draughts  of  the  water  of  life  and  the  quieting  peace 


356  ESSENTIALS    TO    LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

of  divine  comfort  which  makes  resignation  to  the  Di- 
vine will  a  pleasure. 

This  lesson  must  have  been  already  partly  learned 
in  the  yielding  to  parental  authority,  otherwise  it  will 
be  a  difficult  lesson  to  learn  in  later  life.  The  child 
who  never  learned  to  yield  to  the  parent  will  find  it 
almost  an  impossible  task  to  yield  to  the  Divine  will 
and  law  in  later  life.  It  will  require  many  disappoint- 
ments and  heart-breaking  failures  to  cure  him  of 
the  life-long  habit  of  having  his  own  way. 

The  Apostle  John  defines  Sin  as  "the  transgression 
of  the  Law"  of  God.  I  Jno.  3  :4.  God's  law  expresses 
His  way.  When  man  transgresses, — that  is,  walks 
right  over  and  treads  under  foot,  the  laws  of  God, — he 
is  simply  having  his  own  way.  So  looking  at  the 
siitner  we  may  truly  say,  "Sinning  is  just  having  one's 
own  way,"  nothing  more.  "It  is  a  terrible  thing  for  a 
man  to  have  his  own  way,"  and  sooner  or  later  every 
man  must  find  it  out.  Then  how  will  he  regret  that 
father  and  mother  did  not  train  him,  and  ]irunc  him, 
and  correct  and  regulate  him  in  the  plastic  years  of 
childhood.  No  man  was  every  sorry  for  the  restraints 
of  true  Christian  discipline.  One  in  after  years  may 
remember  with  hatred  those  brutal  punishments  that 
were  inflicted  under  the  movings  of  an  ugly  wrath, 
but  no  man  can  look  back  with  regrets  to  that  faithful 
training  that  helped  to  make  a  true  man  of  him. 

Proper  training  in  the  home  prepares  a  man  to  go 
out  into  the  world  to  become  a  leader  among  men. 
The  man  who  controls  himself  will  be  able  to  control 
others.  He  will  ha\e  a  wholesome  restraining  influ- 
ence on  the  corrupt  elements  in  society  and  if  there 
are  a  few   such  thcv   will  be  able  to  control   the  civic 


HABITS  357 

aft'airs  of  ilic  conmiunily  and  make  that  community 
a  decent  place  in  which  to  live. 

We  come  now  to  speak  of  some  secret  habits,  which 
are  almost  sure  to  work  ruin  if  indulged  in  childhood 
years.  They  have  their  oiigin  in  the  over-development 
of  the  sexual  propensities  and  are  probably  stronger 
generally  than  most  other  animal  instincts.  They  be- 
come established  in  the  little  one,  often  before  thev  are 
suspected,  because  of  the  intuitive  tendency  to  secresy. 
The  immediate  cause  of  the  awakening  of  those  sen- 
sations which  accompany  sexual  manipulations,  and 
which  form  the  incentive  to  repeat  the  action 
which  produced  the  sensations,  is  frequently,  unclean- 
liness  which  produces  irritations  which  lead  the  child 
to  try  to  relieve  the  irritation,  and  the  discovery  is 
made.  Or  some  unprincipled  nurse  excites  these  parts 
to  quiet  the  child;  or  the  child  falls  into  company  witl; 
some  older  child  that  has  already  become  contaminated 
with  this  secret  vice  and  seems  infatuated  to  impart 
the  evil  knowledge  to  others.  Sometimes  the  com- 
munity has  in  it  grown  up  men  who  delight  to  teach 
pollution  to  the  little  ones. 

The  children  must  be  guarded  with  jealous  care. 
No  other  period  of  life  has  in  it  so  many  possibilities 
for  good  or  evil  as  the  first  seven  years.  Keep  the 
child  pure  during  this  time  and  teach  the  lessons  of 
self  control,  fortitude,  patience,  and  confidence  in  his 
parents,  and  in  the  Creator,  and  he  will  be  compara- 
tively safe.  One  rightly  trained  at  this  age  is  a  com- 
plete little  man  or  woman.  ( )f  course  they  still  need 
guarding  but  the  most  critical  period  has  been  passed. 
Cleanliness,  separation  from  evil  companionshi]).  l)eing 
cared  for  only  by  those  who  are  pure,  these  ar*'  im- 


358  ESSENTIALS    TO    LIFE    AND       HEALTH 

portant  matters,  but  the  most  important  of  all  is  con- 
fidence and  loving  trust  in  the  parents. 

The  mother  who  can  keep  the  confidence  of  her  chil- 
dren so  that  they  come  to  her  with  all  their  secrets, 
will  have  little  to  worry  about  in  this  respect.  The 
child  who  confides  all  to  mother  has  everything  com- 
paratively in  his  favor  in  this  commencement  of  the 
conflict  with  evil,  for  he  has  a  true  mother  who  will 
guide  him  or  her  carefully  through  the  shoals  and 
quicksands.  What  a  power  the  wise,  true  mother  can 
exert,  at  this   period,  eternity  only  will   fully  reveal. 

Fathers  and  mothers,  don't  lose  that  intimate  asso- 
ciation with  your  children  which  lets  you  into  all  the 
secrets  of  their  lives.  Then  if  you  are  true,  your  chil- 
dren will  be  safe,  for  you  will  know  how  to  guide 
them.  Encourage  your  little  ones  to  trust  you  and 
then  prove  worthy  of  the  trust  they  place  in  you 

The  best  and  only  true  confessional  is  the  faithful 
parent's  knee,  especially  the  mother's.  Here  the  little 
one  can  pour  out  its  soul,  and  receive  comfort  and 
strength  to  meet  trials.  This  is  a  fortress  to  which 
the  little  one  can  flee  and  be  safe.  As  long  as  you, 
parents,  can  have  the  full  confidence  of  your  children 
they  are  safe.  And  let  this  intimate  relationship  be 
kept  up  as  the  years  advance.  Then  how  that  family 
will  cling  to  that  fireside.  And  what  a  blessed  condi- 
tion of  affairs  will  prevail  all  along  life's  journey.  Such 
fathers  and  mothers  never  "outlive  their  usefulness," 
and  such  children  never  quarrel  over  a  division  of  the 
old  estate. 

Childhood,  and  life-long  habits  of  purity  can  be  se- 
cured only  by  this  loving  trust  in  true  parents. 

Parents  will   have   to   be   as   true   to   the   principles 


HABITS  359 

they  hold  up  for  their  children  as  they  require  them  to 
be.  This  will  often  lead  the  parents  to  confessing 
their  weaknesses  and  wrongs  to  the  little  ones  when 
some  circumstance,  at  an  unguarded  moment,  has 
brought  forth  the  harsh  impatient  word. 

The  conduct  of  father  and  mother  toward  the  neigh- 
bors will  be  scrutinized  most  keenly.  Deviations  from 
strict  matters  of  principle  must  be  acknowledged  be- 
fore the  children  and  put  away.  This  is  the  only  way 
the  breaches  in  the  wall  of  household  defence  can  be 
repaired. 

The  confidence  of  one  little  fellow  in  his  mother  is 
most  refreshing.  He  was  playing  with  the  neighbor- 
hood children  when  two  or  three  of  them  began  re- 
marking about  their  friends  and  parents  telling  lies. 
This  little  one  straightened  up  and  with  dignified 
positiveness  declared,  "When  my  mother  says  a  thing 
is  so,  it  is  so,  if  it  ain't  so."  It  is  not  difficult  for  true 
parents  to  keep  the  confidence  of  their  family;  but 
those  who  think  more  of  being  in  the  whirl  of  fashion 
and  in  the  swim  of  social  excitement  will  not  have  time 
nor  patience  to  guard  their  little  ones  from  the  snares 
of  evil. 

As  life  advances  the  youth  will  need  to  be  guarded 
agairst  the  corrupt  literature  that  is  now  flooding  the 
world  in  the  form  of  sentimental,  and  sometimes  we 
may  say,  licentious  novels. 

As  "pride,  fullness  of  bread  and  abundance  of  idle- 
ness" increases  in  our  land  there  will  be  even  more 
pitfalls  in  the  licentious  surroundings  of  the  youth 
than  we  now  see.  Those  who  have  been  guarded 
safest  will  still  be  in  danger.  And  those  who  have 
fallen  intr)  the  snare  will  need  help  tn  get  out.     Keep 


360  ESSENTIALS  TO  LIFE  AND  HEALTH 

the  children  and  youth  and  your  own  selves  from  tak- 
ing object  lessons  in  any  form  of  crime.  The  modern 
theater  is  full  of  these  object  lessons,  and  needs  puri- 
fying as  much  as  anything  in  society. 

Habits  of  licentiousness  are  easily  learned  from  some 
of  these  object  lessons,  unless  the  soul  is  so  well  forti- 
fied that  it  has  no  taste  for  such  things. 

Almost  every  man  is  a  bundle  of  habits,  and  these 
habits  keep  him  under  control.  Very  few  men  could 
go  free  in  their  own  strength  if  they  would.  Habits 
bind  men  with  fetters  stronger  than  brass.  Manhood 
with  all  its  possibilities  is  so  often  chained  to  the  clods 
of  corruption.  Most  of  the  power  of  the  iiunian  race 
is  bound  to  corruption  itself  with  the  chains  of  appe- 
tite and  lust  and  there  is  a  yawning  abyss  of  utter  des- 
pair awaiting  those  who  enter  the  unlawful  ways  of 
pleasure-seeking. 

Just  for  one  moment  of  gratification  the  unrestrained 
man  forfeits  peace,  and  self  respect,  and  honor;  stifles 
the  voice  of  conscience,  and  invites  disease  and  cor- 
ruption to  dwell  in  his  very  bones  and  pollute  his  in- 
most soul.  He  sows  the  seeds  of  death  and  disgrace 
all  because  he  did  not  have  enough  wholesome  training 
to  make  a  well-balanced  man  of  him.  His  habits  have 
become  tigers  which  lurk  for  him  at  eveiy  turn  and 
devour  him  while  he  still  lives  and  breathes.  He  who 
desires  peace  of  mind  and  rest  of  body,  more  than  folly, 
will  break  away  from  this  awful  ihralldom  of  evil  hab- 
its. Young  man,  young  woman,  disappoint  the  mon- 
ster that  is  beguiling  you  before  he  disappoints  you 
again.  Seek  counsel  of  some  friend  who  lias  proved 
true  to  you.  Confide  in  that  friend.  Read  the  lives 
(jf  those  who  have  been  this  way  before  you,  and  with- 


HABITS  361 

stood  the  trials  that  have  overthrown  you.  There  is 
help  in  the  Man  of  Nazareth  for  you  as  there  was  for 
them.  There  is  life  in  conquering,  there  is  death  in 
yielding'.  True  pleasures  leave  no  sting  in  the  flesh ; 
false  pleasures  infect  the  body  and  soul  with  a  blood 
poison  for  which  there  is  no  natural  remedy.  Creative 
power  only  can  restore  where  death-dealing  habit  has 
prevailed.  Call  to  your  aid  in  sincerity,  the  Creator 
of  heaven  and  earth ;  get  in  touch  with  Him.  There 
is  spiritual  fellowship  that  is  Divine  and  pleasures  that 
do  not  disappoint. 

Let  every  one  of  our  readers  enter  upon  the  pleas- 
urable task  of  inviting  into  the  life  the  self-control 
family  of  habits.  It  will  work  wonders  for  you;  and 
through  contact  with  others  the  influence  of  your  ef- 
forts may  extend  until  thousands  may  be  set  free  and 
become  strong  and  capable  of  helping  fully  to  develop 
men  into  a  vital  appreciation  of  the  life  that  now  is 
and  of  also  that  which  is  to  come. 

There  is  a  long  list  of  what  are  usually  considered 
to  be  very  little  trivial  habits.  We  might  name  some 
of  them,  as  the  candy  habit,  the  ice  cream  habit,  the 
soda  water  habit,  the  gum  chewing  habit,  the  habit 
of  mincirig  between  meals  and  lying  abed  late  in  the 
morning.  Now  it  may  seem  like  a  trifling  matter  to 
call  attention  to  these  things,  none  of  which  may  ap- 
pear to  us  as  outbreaking  sin.  Rut  they  are  all  use- 
less, wasteful,  expensive  and  enslaving.  All  of  them 
are  physically  injurious  as  now  practiced  in  our 
country.  Every  young  man  and  woman  would  be 
better  off  today  if  these  habits  had  never  been  known. 
There  is  no  true  character  building  in  any  of  them, 
hence  they  are  not  to  be  commended. 

24 


362  ESSENTIALS  TO  LIFE  AND  HEALTH 

To  yield  to  the  gratification  of  a  taste  or  desire  that 
ministers  no  good  to  soul  or  body  can  fall  little  short 
of  being  sinful.  To  foster  in  ourselves  the  demand 
for  a  useless  indulgence  cannot  but  degrade  us  in  our 
own  estimation.  An  occasional  use  of  clean  candy 
or  ice  cream  at  home  or  to  chew  gum  for  a  few  min- 
utes to  clean  the  teeth,  under  some  circumstances 
cannot  be  wiseh^  condemned  at  the  present  stage  of 
social  attainments,  but  to  get  the  habit  for  these 
things  fixed  so  that  there  is  clamoring  for  them  and 
a  wasteful  use  of  means  in  procuring  the  demanded 
gratification  is  a  specie  of  slavery  as  much  to  be 
shunned  as  any  other.  The  constant,  habitual  per- 
sistence in  these  habits  can  only  result  in  injur}- 
l)oth  physical  and  moral. 

The  candy  habit  is  now  being  used  to  the  advantage 
of  the  liquor  inteersts  by  the  manufacture  of  brandy 
and  wine  drops.  It  is  bad  enough  to  find  intoxicating 
drinks  behind  the  saloon  bar..  It  is  horribly  offensive 
to  find  it  mingled  with  sweetmeats  prepared  to  be 
sold  to  innocent  children. 

It  is  unwise  to  indulge  a  habit  for  even  good  things 
until  it  becomes  enslaving.  The  Creator  has  so  con- 
stituted man  that  when  he  uses  natural  foods  they 
do  not  produce  cravings  that  other  good  foods  will 
not  satisfy.  But  if  we  take  unnatural  foods,  appetites 
arc  formed  which  it  is  hard  to  break.  And  here  is  the 
test  for  every  indulgence,  whenever  the  appetite  i)e- 
gins  to  clamor  for  gratification  it  is  time  to  slow  up. 
When  natural  law  is  obeyed  the  appetite  will  not  get 
the  mastery  of  the  man.  It  is  no  more  noble  to  be 
controlled  by  a  candy  appetite  than  to  be  held  in 
bondage   l)y   a   liquor  appetite.     Of   course,   the   open 


HABITS  363 

results  of  the  latter  are  very  much  worse  but  the 
element  of  slavery  remains.  The  same  is  true  of  the 
tea  and  coffee  habits  and  many  other  "little"  ( ?) 
habits.  Indulgence  in  ■"litilc"  habits  prepares  the 
way  for  greater  indulgences.  All  the  possibilities  of 
the  oak  are  pent  u]:)  in  the  acorn  and  its  habits  of 
growth.  So  habit  is  habit,  and  habit  is  servitude. 
And  the  servant  and  slave  is  a  weakling"  and  not  a 
master.  There  is  no  element  of  nobility  and  refine- 
ment inherent  in  a  useless  habit  even  though  other- 
wise noble  people  indulge  it.  Society  cannot  ennoble 
a  useless  habit,  but  a  useless  habit  can  degrade  noble 
society.  If  noble  men  only  sensed  this  truth,  won- 
derful transformations  would  take  place  in  our  social 
customs  and   personal   habits. 

The  wicked  thing  back  of  the  promoting  of  places 
of  useless  eating  and  drinking  and  amusement,  15  the 
taking  advantage  of  the  weakness  of  modern  society, 
just  as  the  saloon  keeper  does.  There  is  a  tendency 
among  men  to  i\o  certain  wrong,  useless  things,  and 
the  place  and  opportunity  is  provided  so  that  some 
one  can  profit  by  the  degradation  of  society — get  the 
other  man's  money.  Jtist  because  he  is  too  weak  to 
resist  the  temptation  the  money  seeker  sets  before 
him. 

We  know  of  scores  of  men  who  in  youth  had  an 
ambition  to  accomplish  some  purpose  in  life.  By  self 
denial  and  self  control  they  steered  clear  of  every 
useless  indulgence,  saving  time  and  means  for  only 
the  actual  necessities  of  life,  and  sometimes  the  neces- 
sities were  scarce.  Many  of  these  men  accomplished 
their  aim  and  today  stand  in  responsible  i)Iacos  in 
societv    and    goxernnu'ut.       The    one    \\h<i    wnuld    win 


364  ESSENTIALS  TO  LIFE  AND  HEALTH 

success  in  the  race  of  life  in  any  line  of  employment 
cannot  expect  success  from  favorable  outward  cir- 
cumstances.    Success  comes  from  within. 

Many  pampered  ones  in  our  time  turn  up  their 
noses  at  the  suggestion  of  a  fellowship  with  the  life 
of  deprivation  that  Abraham  Lincoln  lived.  They 
will  find  at  last  that  their  bubble  of  ambition  may 
burst  by  the  generation  of  gas  from  the  useless  stufl' 
that  lack  of  self  control  permitted  to  come  into  their 
lives. 

The  one  who  wants  to  have  this  life  merge  smoothly 
into  the  life  to  come  will  be  careful  of  the  kind  of 
habits  he  brings  into  life  here,  for  these  habits,  make 
character  and  character  is  the  thing  that  will  be  car- 
ried over  into  the  new  life.  There  is  no  room  for  the 
rubbish  of  self  indulgence  anywhere  along  the  way. 
The  inexorable  law  is  that  the  character  must  be 
built  out  of  the  habits  that  are  furnished.  You  would 
not  put  weak  or  soft  timber  into  the  foundations  of 
your  house.  Many  men  are  thoughtlessly  putting 
corrupt  habits  into  their  characters  and  others  are  in- 
dulging the  growth  of  weak  habits  that  will  lead  them 
into  corrupt   ways  later  on. 

If  you  were  to  be  tried  in  court  which  would  you 
choose  for  your  judge  and  jury,  other  qualities  being 
e(|ual,  a  class  of  men  who  were  mimching  candy  and 
peanuts,  and  a  judge  with  a  bottle  in  his  pocket  from 
which  he  frequently  regaled  himself;  or  men  who 
were  self  controlled  in  these  respects?  T  need  not 
await  your  answer.  The  moral  is;  if  you  wish  to  be 
a  good  judge  of  all  the  afi'airs  of  life  keep  free  from 
the  weakness  of  all  useless  indulgence  of  whatever 
nature-.      If    vou    want    vour   children    to   become    men 


HABITS  .^65 

and  women  who  will  be  pillars  in  the  society  of  life, 
just  hold  a  steady  hand.  Deny  them  nothing  that 
is  necessary.  Encourage  moderation  in  all  good 
things ;  prevent  such  a  use  of  the  weak,  unnecessary 
things  as  will  lead  to  weak,  wasteful  habits,  and  pro- 
hibit  absolutely   all    those   things   which   are   harmful. 

The  most  important  habit  to  be  formed  is  the  habit 
of  controlling  the  thoughts.  This  once  accomplished, 
the  man  can  be  master  of  any  evil  suggestion  that 
may  arise  in  his  mind.  How  may  this  power  be  ac- 
quired? The  steady,  even,  quiet  spirit  of  the  niother 
or  nurse  is  the  commencement  of  this  quality  of 'being 
in  the  child.  Keep  the  child  away  from  excitement 
and  exciting  pleasures  where  rapid  changes  in  moods 
is  stimulated.  Of  course  the  child  must  have  good 
food  and  care  physically,  to  keep  it  in  health.  As 
soon  as  he  shows  a  preference  for  an\-  particular  line 
of  toys  or  baby  employment  let  him  not  l)e  changed 
too  frequently  from  one  thing  to  another.  .\  set  of 
building  blocks  is  in  every  way  superior  to  a  rocking 
horse.  And  a  little  later  the  picture  puzzle  or  the 
map  puzzle ;  any  constructive  effort  will-  tend  to  con- 
tinuous thought  along  any  subject  that  is  before  the 
mind.  Kindergarten  methods  are  \ery  good  jf  the 
(larmatizing  is  left  out.  Children  do  not  need  fanci- 
ful, imaginative  development  to  establish  mental  con- 
trol of  the  thoughts. 

Cultivate  the  will,  dnn't  crush  it.  Do  all  \ou  can 
to  have  the  child  make  up  his  mind  for  himself.  Give 
him  frequent  opportunity  for  choice  between  two  arti- 
cles which  he  may  desire  and  which  will  be  of  use 
to  him;  between  two  courses  of  action;  or  between 
two  or   more   kinds   of   ])roper   amusements,   and   then 


366  ESSENTIALS  TU  LIFE  AND  HEALTH 

(|uicll\-  hold  him  to  his  choice.  If  he  makes  a  wroiigr 
choice  reason  him  out  of  it.  if  possible.  If  he  is  "a 
chip  off  the  old  block,"  and  will  have  his  way,  lei 
him  snft"er  a  little  of  the  consequences,  but  stand  by 
ready  to  kindly  help  him  out  when  the  i)inch  comes. 
There  Avill  be  little  of  this  stubborn  resistance  to 
deal  wiili  if  the  parent  has  the  full  contklence  of  the 
child. 

Sometimes  in  a  crisis  a  little  severe  and  moderately 
painful  punishment  may  become  necessary  to  save 
the  child  from  his  own  ways,  but  it  must  be  admin- 
istered tenderly  and  lovingly,  not  in  wrath.  The  child 
must  know  that  this  work  of  disciplining'  is  not  a 
pleasure  to  the  parent ;  nor  a  manifestation  of  lack 
of   control. 

When  the  days  for  reading  of  stories,  for  education, 
and  amusement  has  arrived  there  is  more  danger  for 
the  habit  of  metnal  self  control  than  at  any  previous 
period.  Choose  for  the  family  a  series  of  biographies 
or  travels,  well  and  orderly  written.  Encourage  the 
study  of  geography  and  mathematics,  and  any  useful 
topic  that  requires  systematic,  thinking.  Anything" 
and  everything  that  is  truly  scientific.  All  the  busi- 
ness affairs  of  the  family  should  be  run  in  an  orderly 
manner.  The  garden  and  farm,  or,  if  nothing  more, 
the  dooryard,  should  be  systematically  laid  out  and 
cared  for  and  every  child  should  have  a  share  in  the 
work.  Keep  the  mind  and  hands  busy  with  a  steady 
line  of  employment  until  a  change  is  necessary  for 
rest. 

The  greatest  danger  for  the  idle  youths  of  our  time 
is  the  fictitious  literature  in  which  the  imagination  is 
led  on  a  wild  chase  into  impossible,  forbidden  or  at 


HABITS  367 

least  improbable  scenes.  Tlie  riotous,  exciting  method 
employed  by  the  novelist  is  just  Avhat  the  most  of 
minds  will  take  to,  just  from  hereditary  tendency. 
Following  through  the  harrowing,  imaginary  circum- 
stances; or  the  exhilerating  flights  of  fancy  will  soon 
break  down  the  power  to  do  systematic  thinking.  The 
novel  writer  gives  free  rein  to  the  thoughts,  feeling 
and  emotions;  and  he  who  follows  with  him  forms 
this  same  habit,  which  soon  breaks  down  and  obliter- 
ates all  the  lessons  of  control  ever  taught,  if  the  in- 
dulgence is  continued. 

Such  reading  leads  to  dreamy  re\"cries  which  often 
result  in  criminal  habits. 

Publishing  all  the  details  of  crime,  and  all  the  de- 
tails of  criminal  procedure,  in  the  courts,  is  a  most 
reprehensible  thing.  Man}^  of  the  criminally  inclined 
have  got  their  first  suggestions  of  lunv  to  commit 
crime  by  this  kind  of  reading. 

Many  a  case  of  licentious  gratification  has  followed 
the  sensuous  excitement  of  reading  some  novel  or 
witnessing  some  theater  performance,  or  reading  the 
particulars  of  some  scandalous  deed.  They  who  would 
be  self  controlled  must  avoid  mental  excesses  as  they 
would  excesses  in  the  use  of  stimulants  and  narcotics. 

Those  who  fall  into  the  habit  of  reading  chafTy, 
frivolous,  exciting  literature  soon  lose  all  taste  for 
study  and  solid  reading.  The  Bible,  that  book  which 
reveals  the  life  to  come  and  points  out  the  moral 
preparation  for  it  becomes  exceedingly  distasteful  to 
the  novel  reader.  This  education  of  the  mind  into  a 
state  of  loose  sensuousness,  may  be  charged  almost 
Avholly  to  the  account  of  modern   fiction. 

Life,  here  and  hereafter,  depends  entirely  on  habits 


368  KSSENTlAIvS  TO  LIFE  AND  HEALTH 

of  self  control.  Every  man  who  would  accomplish 
anything  worth  doing  in  this  life  must  be  schooled 
faithfully  and  patiently  into  these  habits.  How  much 
more  then,  are  they  necessary  in  view  of  the  possi- 
bilities of  the  life  to  come. 

We  have  not  in  this  chapter  spoken  much  concern- 
ing those  grosser  forms  of  habit  like  the  use  of  to- 
bacco, liquor  and  opium. 

We  have  said  all  that  we  thought  necessary  under 
"Drugs,  Stimulants  and  Narcotics."  If  the  principles 
of  control  set  forth  in  this  present  chapter  prevailed, 
all  forms  ,of  self  indulgence  would  gradually  cease 
from  among  men,  and  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven  would 
be  brought  very  near  even  now. 

In  dealing  with  the  evils  of  social  life  and  the  un- 
restraints manifest  in  our  fellowmen,  epithets  only 
harden;  pleadings  are  largely  in  vain;  legal  restric- 
tions are  easily  evaded;  and  the  after  lessons  of  suf- 
fering are  only  of  temporar}^  avail.  A  patient,  reason- 
able, faithful  appeal,  backed  by  a  good  example,  and 
such  a  course  of  sacrificing,  disinterested  kindness  as 
will  prove  our  motives  wholly  unselfish,  are  the  only 
things  with  the  added  grace  of  God,  that  will  win 
men  back  from  ways  of  weakness  and  waywardness. 
Such  a  course  on  the  part  of  faithful  workers  reveals 
the  incarnate  grace  of  God, — the  grace  of  God  dwell- 
ing in  flesh,- — the  only  resistless  plea  for  a  better  life 
that  can  be  offered  to  men  who  do  not  know  how  to 
appreciate  life  well  enough  to  care  for  it  sensibly  and 
\\isely  as  they  f|uitc  generally  do  for  all  the  things 
of    lesser    im|)ortancc. 

Life,  life,  LIFE  is  the  important  thing;  not  selfish, 
sensuous   L^ratificatinn.    which    vet    alwavs   proves   dis- 


HABITS  369 

appointing.  Why  exchange  life  for  indulgence?  Why 
squander  it  for  gratification.  Why  sell  it  for  a  glit- 
tering bubble  that  bursts  ere  it  is  fairly  grasped  and 
leaves  only  stained  hands,  soiled  garments,  and  a  dis- 
appointed, aching  heart. 

Life  is  ours  now  to  have,  to  appreciate,  to  hold,  to 
enlarge  and  beautify,  to  strengthen  and  ennoble  so 
that  at  last  the  Master  of  the  Universe  may  say  to 
us,  "come  up  higher." 


CHAPTER  XIIL 
Life  and  Labor. 

More  About  the  Law  of  Exercise. 

We  are  endeavoring"  to  deal  in  principle  with  life 
in  all  its  phases  and  all  its  relations  of  dependency. 

Much  of  earth's  surface  forbids  the  sustenance  of 
life  without  labor.  Large  areas  demand  the  most 
strenuous  efforts  on  man's  part  to  wring  even  the 
bare  necessities  of  life  from  the  stubljorn  circum- 
stances. 

In  such  localities,  indifference  to  labor  means  either 
physical  suft'ering  or  dependence  on  others  who  are 
struggling   against   similar   conditions. 

The  question  of  feeding  the  lazy  and  indolent  mem- 
bers of  the  human  family  is  fully  settled  by  a  gospel 
commandment  as  given  by  Paul.  He  said,  "For  even 
when  we  were  with  you,  this  we  commanded  you.  if 
any  man  would  not  work  neither  should  he  eat."  II 
Thes.  3:10.  This  was  good  gospel  nineteen  hundred 
years  ago  and  it  is  just  as  good  today.  There  are 
enough  cases  of  suffering  from  sickness  and  accident 
to  demand  the  attention  of  our  philanthropic  neigh- 
bors and  friends  without  our  letting  our  energies  waste 
and  we  attempt  to  live  at  the  expense  of  other  people's 
energies.  Such  a  life  of  indolence  and  indifference  to 
the  rights  and  obligations  of  others  is  on  a  level  with 
stealing  and   robbery. 


r.IFE  AND  LABOR  371 

There  is  a  tendency  everywhere,  growing  out  of 
innate  laziness,  to  live  by  one's  wits,  as  it  is  said,  at 
the  expense  of  other  people's  production.  Every  able- 
bodied  man  should  be  a  producer  of  something  valu- 
able and  tiseful  to  the  race,  otherwise  he  forfeits  his 
rights  to  existence.  Take  those  lands  where  the 
prodigality  oi  nature  renders  physical  labor  almost 
unnecessary,  the  condition  of  civilization  and  morals  is 
an  object  lesson  which  ought  to  put  to  shame  any  half- 
way self-respecting  shirk,  who  may  be  found  any- 
where in  ci\ilization. 

The  man  who  is  unacquainted  with  good,  steady, 
faithful  labor  does  not  know  the  value  and  meaning  of 
rest.  There  can  be  no  peace  and  comfort  to  the  man 
who  is  always  conniving  and  planning  how  to  serve 
himself  out  of  the  earnings  of  another.  The  civilized 
world  is  afflicted  with  a  host  of  this  class  of  men. 
They  have  no  respect  for  the  rights  of  others  to  rest. 
We  have  seen  young  women  trained  by  some  loving 
mother  to  sit  and  look  on,  or  prim]i  and  fuss  and 
giggle  and  entertain  some  senseless  companion,  while 
mother  and  father  toiled  all  the  day  to  furnish  the 
food  for  the  young  spendthrifts.  We  have  seen  young 
men  who  could  exert  enough  energy  playing  baseball 
or  football  or  tennis  to  have  more  than  ])roduced  a 
good  li\ing  for  themselves,  while  father  sweat  and 
toiled  in  tin-  field  to  help  raise  the  necessary  fund,  to 
pay  off  the  mortgage  on  the  old  farm,  so  that  his 
promising  young  son  would  have  more  money  to 
squander  on  the  race  track,  or  at  the  club  house,  or 
the  saloon,  when  father  and  mother  were  out  of  the 
way. 

The  fathers  and  mothers  are  to  blame  for  this  state 


372  ESSENTIALS  TO  LIFE  AND  HEALTH 

of  affairs.  Those  who  do  not  have  patient  common 
sense  enough  to  put  the  yoke  on  the  youth  while  he 
is  young,  will  find  the  youth,  of  whichever  sex,  to  grow 
up  and  act  just  like  that  steer  that  ne\cr  was  yoked 
up  and  put  to  labor  in  his  calf-hood  days.  "It  is  good 
for  a  man  that  he  bear  the  yoke  in  his  youth,"  and 
for  woman  too.  For  a  child  to  have  the  privilege  of 
helping  in  the  little  duties  of  life  just  as  fast  as  his 
capabilities  increase,  is  the  best  moral  and  mental 
discipline  that  this  world  affords.  To  learn  to  help 
father  and  mother  in  the  aft'airs  of  life,  develops  man- 
hood and  womanhood,  and  fortitude,  and  prepares  the 
way  for  helpfulness  in  the  cause  of  suffering  humanity 
in  after  life.  The  discipline  and  restraints  of  physical 
training  form  the  sinews  of  character. 

The  mother  who  waits  on  baby  at  his  beck  and  call, 
from  the  first  time  he  bumps  his  head  on  the  floor 
because  he  cannot  have  his  own  way,  until  he  is  five 
years  of  age,  picking  him  up  when  he  falls  down  and 
coddling  him  every  time  he  breaks  forth  in  protest 
against  the  restraints  of  circumstances,  will  find  her- 
self not  many  years  afterward,  in  the  chains  of  a 
slavery  to  the  restraints  of  her  offspring,  more  galling 
than  any  African  slavery  ever  was. 

Some  one,  not  many  years  ago,  pictured  the  fondled 
baby  crying  for  the  moon.  Underneath  was  the  legend, 
"He  won't  be  happy  till  he  gets  it."  Well,  he  wouldn't 
be  happy  then.  Give  humanity  its  full  desire  all  the 
way  along  life's  young  journey,  and  it  grows  more 
exacting  and  dissatisfied  as  the  journey  progresses. 

The  discipline  of  honest  employment  means  life  and 
peace  in  later  years.  To  train  the  young  mind  so  that 
it  can  have  and  enjoy  only  what  it  fleserves,  just  as 


LIFE  AND  LABOR  373 

fust  as  the  vears  ui  nndcrstaiulini>-  bcii'in  to  dawn,  will 
stimulate  activity  along  useful  lines  and  make  the 
thild  an  amateur  producer  of  something  valuable  to 
I  he  race.  There  is  millions  of  man-power  going  at 
loose  ends  and  wasting  itself  on  criminal  indulgence, 
just  because  some  mistaken,  over-fond  parent  lacked 
the  ability  to  educate  (draw  out)  the  latent  powers  of 
her  offspring  and  connect  them  with  some  line  of  use- 
ful  employment. 

"All  work  and  no  play  makes  Jack  a  dull  boy." 
'I'hat  saying  only  emphasizes  the  call  for  recreation 
which  none  can  enjoy  except  those  who  have  been 
well  and  wisely  employed.  All  play  and  no  work  will 
make  Jack  a  useless,  good  for  nothing,  and  possibly, 
a  criminal. 

How  One  Kind-hearted  Woman  Failed. 

She  was  refined,  faithful,  patient  and  long  suiTering. 
."^he  had  a  most  gentle  Christian  bearing.  I  knew 
lier  w^ell.  Her  early  years  were  spent  in  her  father's 
family,  where  the  circumstances  of  life  made  it  a 
stern  necessity  for  all  the  family  to  labor  faithfully, 
and  almost  constantly.  As  she  approached  woman- 
hood she  felt  very  keenly  the  lack  of  privileges  that 
had  been  denied  her  and  she  resolved  that  her  chil- 
dren, if  she  ever  had  any  to  rear,  should  not  be  sub- 
jected to  the  hardships  that  she  felt  had  fallen  to  her 
lot.  One  thing  that  soured  her  against  the  circum- 
stances of  her  own  life,  was  the  false  ideals  which 
<;he  gathered  from  a  few  stray  novels  which  fell  into 
her  hands.  Those  romantic  pictures  were  so  imlike 
the  stern  realities  of  her  existence  and  sn  pleasing  to 
her  fancy,  that  she  resolved  to  save  her  childmi  from 


374  ESSENTIALS    TO    LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

licr  (lc|)rivations  and  make  their  lot  as  nearly  as  pos- 
sible like  those  fancy  sketches  which  had  so  fully 
ca])tivated  her  soul. 

So,  true  to  her  resolution,  she  tried  her  new  found 
fancies  on  her  first  born,  a  cherubic  little  boy.  Habit 
of  dealinj^-  with  first  babe  was  continued  when  the 
second  one  came,  and  the  little  girl  w-as  coddled  and 
cared  for  just  as  the  boy  had  been.  Not  a  single  wish 
or  childish  whim  was  overlooked.  Not  a  toy  wanted 
but  it  was  procured.  Not  a  taste  developed  but  it 
was  (juickly  gratified.  Not  a  desire  of  the  eyes  but 
was  satisfied  as  fully  as  possible.  Not  a  privilege 
sought  but  it  was  obtained,  just  as  quickly  as  cir- 
cumstances would  permit.  And  mother,  being  brought 
up  to  labor,  never  allowed  either  child  to  S(jil  its  hands 
with  any  toil  she  could  possibly  perform. 

Education  in  school,  in  music,  in  games,  in  swim- 
ming, and  all  the  fine  acquirements  in  life,  and  at  last 
in  college,  w^ere  provided  just  as  fast  as  the  years 
would  allow^  Nothing  was  forgotten.  The}'  were 
kept  in  the  whirl  of  excitement  and  rush  from  the 
cradle  to  manhood  and  w^omanhood.  No  company  was 
denied  them  which  was  called  respectable,  and  no 
appetite  permitted  to  go  unsatisfied,  and  no  amuse- 
ment imenjoyed. 

Now  as  the  wealth  of  the  family  increased,  the  wa- 
tering iilaces  began  to  become  the  goals  of  existence 
to  the  }-oung  people.  Mother  could  have  servants  to 
attend  to  the  affairs  of  the  home,  while  she  lavished 
the  wealth  on  making  jolin  and  Jennie  just  as  happy 
as  she  knew  how. 

They  must  be  gratified,  satisfied,  pleased  and  ad- 
xanced  in  evervthinof  their  hearts  desired. 


LIFE  AND  LABOR  375 

At  the  ages  of  twenty-three  and  twenty-seven  they 
had  been  taught  nearly  everything  but  the  useful  em- 
ployment of  life.  The  young  man  knew  less  of  his 
father's  business  than  he  did  of  Chinese  manners  and 
customs,  and  the  young  woman  could  not  prepare  a 
meal  of  food,  nor  make  a  garment  for  her  own  or  any 
other's  wear.  A  little  fancy  work  was  all  the  practical 
work  she  knew.  Mother's  plan  that  her  children 
should  not  be  obliged  to  soil  their  hantls  with  labor 
had  been  realized  up  to  date. 

We  will  not  dwell  on  the  unamiable  traits  of  self- 
ishness and  pride  that  had  grown  up  like  weeds  in 
a  hot  bed  in  those  young  hearts;  nor  of  the  stubborn, 
set  purpose,  to  have  their  own  ways  in  all  things. 
Mother  now  began  to  realize  that  she  had  been  train- 
ing tigers  instead  of  lambs,  for  she  had  two  inexorables 
now  to  deal  with  and  serve  as  fully  as  she  was  able. 

And  now  came  the  parting  of  the  ways.  Mother 
was  past  50.  Her  shoulders  were  somewhat  stooped. 
Her  hands  showed  the  effects  of  unremitting  toil.  Her 
gait  was  a  little  stiff  and  awkward.  Her  face  looked 
care-worn  and  sad,  for  she  began  to  know  that  her 
fond  dreams  and  her  cherished  expectations  were  not 
to  be  realized  in  her  children.  Her  slavish  toil  was 
not  appreciated  \n-  her  "darlings."  In  the  early  days 
she  had  prepared  sweetmeats  for  them  and  eaten  the 
plain  foods  herself.  She  had  toiled  that  they  might 
play  and  caper.  .She  had  worn  calicos,  that  they 
might  be  dressed  in  the  latest  styles  with  the  bc^t  of 
goods. 

Now  that  easy  circumstances  made  it  possible  for 
lu-r  to  lay  aside  the  self-denial  for  their  sakes,  she 
finds  that   her  societ\'  and  presence  is  not  accei)table 


376  ESSENTIALS    TO    LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

on  their  pleasure  trips.  Mother's  looks  and  manners 
betrayed  her  plebeian  birth,  and  these  polished  young 
people  felt  better  when  she  was  not  along. 

Mother  now  had  to  content  herself  with  going  alone 
to  the  White  Mountains,  or  the  Seaside,  while  the 
young  folks  took  trips  to  Europe. 

A  few  years  pass.  The  father  dies,  the  young  man 
and  woman  are  married,  the  property  divided,  and 
mother  is  advised  to  go  and  live  with  a  second  cousin, 
who  needs  the  small  amount  allowed  to  the  mother 
to  help  care  for  the  two  in  a  lonely,  quiet  little  coun- 
try town.  The  mother,  now  past  sixty,  and  crippled 
from  the  effects  of  her  hard  life  of  toil  and  cross-bear- 
ing, sat  and  mourned  over  the  neglect  of  those  she  had 
so  tenderly  cared  for.  She  was  not  wanted  in  the  two 
fashionable,  aristocratic  homes  that  had  sprung  out 
of  the  breaking  up  of  her  own.  She  had  so  long 
yielded  to  the  behests  of  her  children  that  when  they 
demanded  a  division  of  all  the  estate,  and  settled  only 
a  pittance  on  her,  she  meekly  yielded.  We  will  not 
follow  the  sorry  tale  further,  except  to  say  that  when 
mother  died,  the  funeral  was  a  very  quiet  affair,  and 
she  was  laid  beside  her  husband  in  the  family  plot. 
Their  friends  were  informed  that  the  "old  woman" 
was  dead.  "It  was  a  blessing  to  her.  for  she  had  out- 
lived her  usefulness."  The  children  in  their  families 
said,  "poor  old  granny  is  dead."  This  sad  picture  be- 
ginning in  foolish  over-fondness  and  a  false  sense  of 
true  kindness  and  ending  in  almost  brutal  neglect,  is 
true  to  life  in  thousands  of  cases,  with  only  slight 
variations. 

In  the  face  of  this  kind  of  folly  it  is  refreshing  to 
know  that  thousands  of  cultured,   refined   people   are 


rjFK  AND  LABOR  377 

trainini^  their  cliiklrcn  to  lives  of  usefulness.  The 
royal  families  of  Europe  that  train  their  sons  and 
daughters  into  productive  trades  and  occupations,  are 
holding  their  own  with  their  subjects.  Some  one  must 
produce.  All  should,  in  some  way,  be  compelled  to 
minister  to  the  public  welfare  by  caring  for  them- 
selves, if  able  to  do  so,  or  ])e  invited  and  compelled  to 
cease  being  consumers.  He  who  will  not  produce 
must  not  presume  that  he  has  tlie  right  to  con- 
sume the  fruits  of  other  men's  labors.  And  he  who 
lails  to  inculcate  this  lesson  into  his  offspring,  must 
expect  to  find  the  large  items  on  the  loss  side  of  his 
life  account  when  the  records  are  closed. 

The  unhappy  mother  to  whose  mismanagement  we 
have  called  attention,  never  enjoyed  any  rest  or  peace 
either  physical,  mental  or  spiritual.  Her  children  were 
strangers  to  that  sweet  comfort  and  well-earned  repose 
that  comes  only  to  the  unselfish  workers.  Tn  their 
declining  years,  imless  a  real  genuine  conversion  shall 
overtake  them,  they  will  suffer  the  same  neglect,  and 
perhaps  worse,  from  their  offspring,  than  their  self- 
sacrificing  niDiher  received  at  their  hands.  There  is 
no  true  rest,  nor  peace,  nor  tjuietness,  either  now  nur 
at  any  time  in  the  future,  to  those  wdio  know  not  the 
restraints  and  discipline  of  useful  employment,  with- 
out a  radical  change  which  shall  bring  them  back  over 
the  devious  paths  of  early  years  to  pick  out  the 
stumbling  blocks  and  help  to  straighten  and  grade  the 
way  for  those  who  shall  come  after  them.  The  Law 
of  Exercise  must  be  obeyed  or  jicace  and  rest  take 
their  departure.  Human  sentiment  may  not  tram])Ie 
under  foot  any  law  of  our  being  wilhoul  paying  (he 
jjcnalty  in  full.     And  human  folly  is  no  nirire  manifest 

25 


378  ESSENTIALS    TO    LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

anywhere  than  in  the  efforts  to  extract  pleasure  and 
satisfaction  from  a  course  of  conduct  that  ignores  and 
tramples  under  foot  the  eternal  laws  of  God  in  na- 
ture.   "There  is  no  peace  saith  my  God  to  the  wicked.  " 


CHAPTER  XIV, 
Transformations. 

Some  of  the  transformations  we  are  now  about  to 
speak  of  more  fully,  have  been  partially  treated  in  a 
former  chapter;  but  we  wish  now  to  bring  out  and 
show  as  fully  as  possible  in  a  brief  space  the  relation- 
ships that  exist  between  the  transformations  that  are 
constantly  going  on  before  our  eyes ;  which  we 
through  being  mentally  preoccupied  with  the  trifling 
things  of  life,  have  largely  overlooked. 

By  transformations  we  mean  those  changes  by 
which  one  substance  is  changed  into  the  form  and 
quality  of  another  substance,  or  by  which  substance 
is  changed  into  force  or  into  thought  or  spiritual  ex- 
perience, or  again,  by  which  creative  force  or  energy 
is  changed  into  material  reality  and  by  a  second  trans- 
formation forward,  into  spiritual  life,  power  and 
energy.  In  this  chapter  we  arc  dealing  with  the  deep 
things  of  the  Creator;  the  very  fountains  of  all  life 
and  existence.  He  who  gets  into  right  relations  with 
these  thoughts  will  have  no  room  for  trifles.  He 
will  have  enough  to  keep  him  busy,  and  cheerful,  and 
hopeful,  and  confident.  There  will  be  little  place  in 
his  experience  for  those  adverse  mental  conditions 
which  overthrow  manho(id  and  womanhood  in  so  many 
thousands  of  cases. 


380  ESSENTIALS    TO    LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

Transformations  of  Energy  into  Material 
Substance. 

ll  is  Aery  easy  for  us  to  grasp  the  idea  of  how  a 
substance  such  as  wood  or  coal  may  be  changed  into 
heat  and  light  and  motion.  We  have  seen  this  done 
so  we  are  ready  to  say  we  understand  it.  But  do  we 
imdersland?  \\'e  sinipl}'  know  these  changes  as  mat- 
ters of  experience.  If  we  had  never  seen  such 
])hen()mena  as  this,  it  would  be  as  hard  for  us  to 
believe  that  oil  could  be  C(^n verted  into  light  as  it  was 
for  the  Siamese  King  to  understand  how  water  could 
])ecome  so  hard  in  Europe  and  America  that  men 
and  animals  could  walk  on  the  surface  of  it.  \\'hen 
the  first  missionary  had  carefidly  told  him  anuMig 
other  things  of  this  transformation  of  water  into  ice 
in  his  home  country,  the  king  said:  "Be  gone  you  mis- 
sionary liar,  be  gone."  Such  a  phenomenon  was  ut- 
terly beyond  his  comprehension  sini])!}'  l)ccause  he 
had  never  seen  such  things  transpire. 

Ihit  though  we  have  seen  the  work  going  on  before 
our  eyes  for  so  many  years  yet  it  is  very  difficult 
for  us  to  grasp  the  idea  of  how  sun  energy,  light  and 
licat.  can  be  and  is  constantly  being  changed  into  the 
solid  substances  with  which  we  have  to  do  all  our 
lives. 

By  the  aid  of  the  ethereal  ajr,  and  tlie  liquid  water. 
and  a  little  of  the  substances  of  earth,  the  tenderest 
herbage  and  the  mighty  forests  gather  tlieir  substance 
and  solidit\'  at  the  command  of  this  glorious  ])roducer 
and  organizer.  How  sunlight  can  be  transformed  into 
grains  and  fruits  and  vegetables  and  trees  we  cannot 
understand   but    we   know   it   is   done. 

W'c  are   wont  to  think  of  creation  a>  something  ac- 


TRANSFORMATIONS  381 

complished  and  finished  thousands  of  years  aj^o,  but 
here  daily,  if  we  open  our  eyes,  we  see  creative  energy 
working"  wonders  just  as  deep  and  profotind  as  those 
which  accompanied  the  production  of  the  first  seeds 
by  direct  creative  energy.  To  say  which  is  the  most 
famiHar  fact  is  very  easy,  but  to  say  wliich  is  the 
greatest  is  impossible  as  well  as  unreasonable;  for 
how  can  we  say  one  work  is  greater  than  another 
when  both  arc  infinitely  beyond  our  comi)rchension? 

Creative  power  has  not  ceased  w'orking.  The 
Creator  is  still  creating  as  veritably  as  when  "lie 
spake  and  it  was  done,  and  commanded  and  it  stood 
fast." 

He  is  still  "upholding  all  things  by  the  word  of  His 
power."  The  energ}-  the  Creator  put  into  the  sini 
is  still  constantly  and  untiringly  working"  transfor- 
mations too  wonderful  for  us,  and  these  become 
through  His  infinite  plan  the  basis  of  all  the  trans- 
formations with  which  mankind  may  become  familiar. 

We  are  constantly  transforming"  the  solid  sub- 
stances of  the  vegetable  kingdom  into  forces  such  as 
heat,  light,  niotion  and  electricity.  In  the  egg  heat 
develops  life.  This  could  never  have  been  had  not 
the  Creator  first  transformed  life  and  force  into  these 
solid  sul)stances  thus  storing  them  up  for  the  use  of 
His  creatures  to  be  liberated  and  used  for  perpetuating" 
life  and  providing  for  the  comfort  of  living  sentient 
beings. 

Transformations  from  Vegetable  to  Animal  Forms 
of  Substance. 

We  will  s])eak  I'mlv  i>\  iii;inkind  ami  how  they  are 
built    ami     nourished.       Man     partakes    of    the    grains. 


382  ESSENTIALS    TO    IvIFE    AND    HEALTH 

fruits  and  vegetables,  cither  at  first-,  or  second-hand 
through  flesh  eating,  and  the  material  form  is  changed 
from  vegetable  to  animal  cell  structure;  from  inert, 
senseless  matter  to  sensible,  conscious,  thoughtful  mat- 
ter. Thus  by  two  transformations  the  Creator  changes 
the  energy  which  He  put  into  the  sun,  carrying  it 
forward  into  flesh  and  blood,  into  thought,  feeling, 
emotion  and  purpose ;  into  love  and  trust  and  confi- 
dence and  hope  and  all  those  elements  which  make 
uj)  a  moral,  spiritual  character.  Mighty  transforma- 
tion !  If  humanity  only  knew  what  an  infinite  God 
they  have  to  deal  with!  Sun  energy  changed  into 
wheat ;  wheat  into  flesh  and  blood  and  brain ;  and 
flesh  and  brain  bringing  forth  spiritual  purposes  and 
spiritual  character.  Such  manifestations  of  creative 
power  are  beyond  our  comprehension.  We  know  they 
are  being  made  all  about  us  constantly.  The  process 
is  open  to  inspection  but  the  power  is  infinitely  be- 
yond us. 

The  spiritual  power  of  God  lirings  forth  the  sun. 
Sun  energy  produces  material  substances  on  earth. 
Man  through  the  Law  of  His  Maker  transforms  these 
material  substances  back  into  spiritual  elements  of 
character.  What  a  cycle  of  transformation  !  My  soul 
bows  in  reverence  under  the  contenii)Iation  of  such  a 
theme. 

Other  Elements  Injected  into  this  Process. 

God  has  put  His  character  into  His  word.  He  also 
sets  forth  the  character  of  His  enemy  in  that  word. 
He  shows  too  how  men  have  succeeded  and  failed 
here,  in  past  ages,  in  their  eflForts  to  transfer  His  char- 
acter from  The  Word  to  their  own  lives.     He  sends  to 


TRANSFORMATIONS  383 

those  who  will  welcome  Him  a  divine  Messenger,  His 
Holy  Spirit,  to  aid  men  in  their  efforts  to  make  this 
last  great  transformation. 

The  human  mind  and  will  itself  becomes  also  a 
factor  in  this  supreme  effort  at  character  building  out 
of  the  material  so  graciously  furnished  by  the  Creator. 
The  laws  of  nature  and  grace  are  oft'ered  as  a  guide 
to  every  man  to  direct  him  in  the  part  he  has  to  act 
m  this  supreme  work  of  transformation. 

Here  is  where  w^e  come  back  again  to  the  laws  of 
Hygiene.  When  man  comes  to  the  years  of  under- 
standing he  must  learn  that  if  he  uses  poor  material 
for  building  up  his  body  he  will  be  poorly  prepared 
to  think  right  thoughts  and  come  to  right  decisions. 
Here  is  where  the  supreme  responsibility  falls  back 
upon  man's  shoulders.  God  will  do  His  part  to  work 
the  transformation,  but  it  is  man's  privilege  to  choose 
to  what  end  his  energies  shall  be  directed.  He  may 
live  to  satisfy  a  gluttonous  appetite  and  waste  his 
precious  God-given  vitality  in  an  eft'ort  to  obtain 
pleasure  from  mere  animal  gratification.  He  may 
choose  to  live  and  eat  like  a  beast  and  then  gratify 
his  animal  nature  like  a  beast  or  sink  even  lower  than 
the  beast.  He  may  spend  the  energies  of  his  body 
in  throwing  out  the  poisons  from  his  system  which  an 
intemperate  appetite  has  led  him  to  swallow.  He  may 
transfer  all  his  bodily  powers  into  fleshy  gratification 
and  sowing  to  the  flesh  reap  a  harvest  of  corruption. 
Or  he  may  choose  a  somewhat  nobler  ideal  and  turn 
all  his  life  energies  to  the  task  of  money  getting.  He 
may  lay  up  millions.  Then  he  has  transformed  his 
powers  of  being  into  a  money  account  and  this  is 
all   there   is  left  of  the   man   when   he   departs   hence. 


384  BSSEiISlTIAL,S    TO    LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

He  may  liave  sought  fame  or  honor,  mere  sounds  that 
die  on  the  wind  and  leave  not  a  whispering  echo. 
So  all  these  God-given  abilities  that  have  come 
through  the  Creator's  transformations  by  His  wisdom 
and  power  may  all  pass  into  nothingness  and  the  man 
himself  fade  away  and*  the  "place  that  knew  him  know 
him   no  more  forever."     This  is  a  life   thrown  away. 

A  Transformation  that  Will  Endure. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  man  may  enter  upon  the 
work  of  upright  character  building.  That  is  the  busi- 
ness in  which  his  Master  is  engaged.  And  in  this  busi- 
ness he  will  have  the  cooperation  of  all  heaven.  He 
ma\-  turn  his  time  and  his  other  capital  stock  into 
helping  his  fellowmen  to  develop  characters  in  har- 
mony with  the  Heavenly  Father  and  the  family  in 
Heaven.  These  characters  become  his  treasure,  the 
things  which  lie  values  most,  ^^'hen  his  work  is  done 
the  balance  sheet  in  Heaven's  ledger  will  show  that 
with  the  help  of  God  this  man  made  a  full  transfer 
of  all  that  was  gi\en  him  into  ( lod's  Kingdom  here 
on  earth  and  God  in  that  glad  resurrection  morn,  will 
transfer  him  and  his  treasure  to  the  Eden  restored; 
where  those  who  hnvc  loved  and  lived  and  labored 
for  others  will  have  the  privilege  of  their  society 
tluoughout  endless  ages.  (See  Rev.  21-22.)  This  last 
transformation  carries  the  products  of  all  ( iod's  trans- 
formations I)ack  to  the  source  from  whence  the  power 
came,  that  set  all  these  transformations  into  operation. 
'I'his  takes  life  back  to  its  origin  and  makes  existence 
something  more  than  merely  living  here.  This  doc- 
trine of  life  and  health  puts  man  fully  in  right  rela- 
tion 1(1  all  the  things  on  which  life  fleiicnds  and  rounds 


TRANSFORMATIONS  385 

out  existence  with  a  success  that  few  of  Adam's  race 
have  attained. 

Success. 

To  lia\  e  lixed  for  self  and  squandered  life  on  those 
purposes  for  which  the  masses  of  mankind  are  laboring 
is  to  miserably  fail  and  perish  and  make  void  in  our- 
selves the  purposes  of  creation.  To  have  lived  for 
others  who  are  compassed  with  the  same  infirmities  as 
ourselves  is  to  secure  all  the  pleasure  there  is  in  this 
life,  and  gain  the  life  to  come. 

This  great  Creator  whom  we  ma}'  love  and  honor 
if  we  will  "is  working  transformations  in  human  hearts 
and  lives  which  are  a  source  of  surprise  and  astonish- 
ment to  his  arch  adversary,"  who  is  also  engaged 
in  taking  advantage  of  God's  laws  to  work  transforma- 
tions of  character,  which  will  prepare  men  for  destruc- 
tion with  him  in  the  tires  of  the  last  great  day.  To 
know  God,  to  have  spiritual  rest  and  peace,  to  be  a  co- 
worker with  Him  secures  to  us  all  there  is  of  life  now 
and  evermore.  "For  godliness  is  profitable  in  all  things 
having  the  promise  of  the  life  that  now  is,  and  of  that 
which  is  to  come."     I  Tim.  4:8. 

The  "workers  together  with  God"  will  share  His 
peace  and  comfort  and  rest,  and  lie  will  sa\e  them 
from  a  multitude  of  ills  which  afflict  selfish  gross  hu- 
manity. To  be  in  tune  witli  the  highest  nobility  in 
the  universe  is  the  most  glorious  of  all  attainments. 
To  be  in  the  direct  channel  of  God's  transformations 
is  to  secure  all  that  earth  or  hea\en  can  lia\e  in  store 
for  mankinrl. 


386  ESSENTIALS    TO    LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

Life  Insurance. 

Our  Father  is  engaged  in  the  life-producing  and  lile- 
insuring  business.  The  grandest  life  insurance  is  the 
assurance  that  we  are  in  harmony  with  Him  and  His 
plans.  All  premiums  are  payable  out  of  our  mental 
and  spiritual  trust  funds  thru  loving  obedience. 

He  gives  us  a  part  to  act  with  Him  in  perpetuating 
the  life  of  the  race.  If  in  this  matter  we  keep  in  har- 
mony with  His  plans  as  expressed  in  Nature  and  in 
His  Word,  instead  of  following"  the  clamorings  of  an 
over-developed  sensuality,  we  shall  reap  a  harvest  of 
rest  and  peace  instead  of  one  more  or  less  corrupted 
with  human  folly  and  weakness.  God's  ways  are  best. 
His  methods  in  the  transformations  of  life  are  wisest 
and  safest.  To  be  in  harmony  with  Him  insures  the 
final  results.  If  humanity  were  born  in  harmony  with 
His  plans  there  would  be  far  less  need  of  discipline  and 
training.  Restraints  would  not  need  to  be  so  severe 
and  development  would  not  be  so  much  retarded  by 
Inmian  imperfections. 

We  may  learn  lessons  from  the  animal  kingdom. 
^Tankind  bring  them  under  control  and  development 
and  improve  some  species  very  greatly.  If  they 
would  apply  the  same  wisdom  in  the  care  of  their 
own  kind,  bringing  themselves  under  control  of  God's 
ways,  there  would  be  a  vast  improvement  in  human 
society. 

He  who  studies  God's  methods  in  producing  trans- 
formations among  His  creatures  here  will  be  better 
])repared  to  co-operate  with  the  Creator  in  the  working 
out  of  a  successful  existence.  We  must  not  forget 
that  we  have  generations  of  heredity  to  deal  with.  It 
will  take  the  aid  of  Divine  wisdom  to  brine:  the  stream 


TRANSFORMATIONS  387 

back  to  the  level  of  the  fountain.  The  modern  systems 
of  self-salvation  will  prove  a  final  failure.  They  may 
cause  some  new  shoots  to  put  forth  promisingly,  but 
when  the  ripening  of  the  fruitage  comes  the  lack  of 
creative  energy  will  be  manifest  and  the  harvest  will 
shrivel  and  turn  back  to  dust. 

Those  who  ignore  the  Creator  will  proht  only  very 
partially  from  a  study  of  Life  and  its  possibilities. 
There  is  an  inspiration  in  knowing  Him  and  studying 
His  methods ;  which  transports  the  man  from  one  pin- 
nacle of  success  to  another,  until  this  life  is  trans- 
formed into  the  life  eternal. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

m 

Reforms  and  Extremes. 

The  (incstioii  of  refdnn  in  our  lieallh  lial)its  is 
largely  a  question  of  our  personal  relations  to  the 
Creator  and  the  laws  of  life  He  has  ordained.  With 
the  exception  of  those  indulgences  like  the  tobacco, 
liquor,  opium  and  other  drug  habits,  or  any  other 
practices  which  are  a  source  of  damage  or  injury  to 
other  ])e()ple,  our  personal  habits  are  really  not  mat- 
ters for  human  control.  Rom.  14:4,  10.  13.  The  things 
we  have  mentioned  are  a  scjurce  of  inconvenience 
and  injury  to  all  who  come  in  close  contact  with  the 
individuals  addicted  to  them.  Hence  our  right  to 
regulate,  and,  if  possible,  to  prevent  these  practices. 
But  our  table  habits  are  a  matter  solely  between  us 
and  liod  and  so  far  as  the  other  man  is  concerned  are 
a  matter  for  persuasion,  instead  of  command.  Know- 
ing the  misery  and  sickness  resulting  froni  failure  to 
ol)ser\e  the  law  of  rest,  or  the  law  of  brealliing,  or  the 
law  of  diet,  we  are  impelled  to  seek  their  good  by 
showing  them  the  right  wa\'.  Nothing  less  nor  more 
than  a  true  spirit  of  philanthropy  and  Christian  kind- 
ness should  actuate  those  who  undertake  to  incline 
the  footsteps  of  their  fellows  into  the  paths  of  physical 
peace. 


REFORMS  AND  EXTREMES  389 

Reforms  in  Diet. 

The  (lucstions  ul  diet  for  all.  and  of  dress  for 
women,  are  the  two  points  that  for  years  have 
been  calling"  the  loudest  for  changes.  In  reference  tc) 
the  diet  qtiestion,  many  faithful  Christian  i)eople  have 
been  persuaded  that  the  nesh  of  animals,  fowls  and 
fishes  is  becoming  so  diseased  that  it  is  not  safe  to 
continue  their  use  as  food.  Thc\-  have  looked  back 
into  the  history  of  God's  dealings  with  His  creatures 
and  have  seen  that  the  original  plan  included  only 
grains,  fruits  and  vegetables.  (See  Gen.  1  and  3.)  They 
have  also  become  persuaded  that  it  is  the  "purpose 
of  God  to  bring"  His  people  back  step  by  step  to  the 
orginial  bill  of  fare."  Some,  seeing  these  points  so 
clearly,  ha^•e  been  forward  to  ])ronounce  flesh  eating 
a  sin  for  c\cry  one.  This  is  going  a  step  too  far, 
because  we  at  once  make  God  the  regulator  of  sin. 
For  did  He  not  n"iake  special  and  particular  laws  in 
reference  to  the  use  of  flesh  foods."  (Sef  Lev  11  and 
other  places.)  If  we  say  too,  that  it  is  a  sin  to  eat 
fish  we  make  Jesus  of  Nazareth  a  sinner.  As  I'aul 
said  things  may  be  lawful  but  not  expedient,  and  ii 
might  be  wrong  for  one  person  to  eat  strawd^erries  or 
buckwheat  cakes,  because  of  personal  injury  received 
simply  becaiise  the  body  is  not  prepared  to  take  these 
foods.  The  use  of  sweet  jiotatoes  makes  the  writer 
very  n"iiscrable.  It  therefore  becomes  wrong  for  him 
t(-i  use  them.  P)ecause  I  deem  it  a  sin  for  me  to  use 
an  article  of  food  does  not  give  me  liberty  to  pro- 
nounce it   a  sin  for  auA'one  else  to  use  that   article  (if 

food. 

But    for    those    who    know    ihe    ])hysical    wrong    of 

indulgence    in    lUsli    eating,    and    know    by    experience 


390  ESSENTIALS    TO    LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

the  good  that  has  come  to  them  and  their  friends 
through  leaving  out  the  grosser  foods;  for  such  to 
continue  the  mere  indulgence  of  the  appetite  for  these 
things,  must,  according  to  the  Apostle  James,  be  sin 
as  all  self-indulgence  is.  "Therefore  to  him  that 
knoweth  to  do  good  and  doeth  it  not,  to  him  it  is 
sin."     James  4:17. 

But  there  are  cases  where  under  the  circumstances 
the  people  cannot  obtain  anything  better  for  food 
than  flesh,  at  least  as  a  part  of  their  diet.  Some  cases 
of  acid  dyspepsia  find  lean  meat  the  only  thing  they 
can  eat  with  comfort.  And  there  is  the  poor  Esquimo, 
with  his  diet  of  seal  and  walrus  blubber.  Shall  we 
call  such  men  sinners  because  they  eat  not  according 
to  the  dictates  of  our  appetite  and  conscience?  Rom. 
14:13.  If  there  is  danger  in  their  diet,  and  there  is, 
better  that  we  set  about  helping  them  to  train  them- 
selves into  a  better  way  of  living;  and  it  can  be  done. 
It  may  take  years,  in  a  few  cases.  It  is  always  safer 
to  make  radical  changes  very  carefully,  especially  ex- 
treme changes  in  diet.  Better  be  months  growing  out 
of  a  bad  habit  and  get  out  at  last,  than  to  jump  out  of 
it  before  you  are  ready  to  leap  far  enough,  so  that  you 
will  not  l)ack-slide  into  it  again. 

It  requires  cool,  careful  intelligcncL-  and  moral  prin- 
ciple to  change  the  physical  habits  and  appetites  that 
have  come  to  us  through  centuries  of  straying  from 
original  paths. 

We  remember  some  of  the  companions  of  our  child- 
hood who  were  very  wont  to  climb  trees  and  get  out 
on  the  very  tips  of  the  limbs  and  dangle  about  like 
monkeys.  We  have  seen  some  of  them  get  severe 
falls  that  left  lasting  impressions  on  their  physical  as 


REFORMS  AND  EXTREMES  391 

well  as  their  mental  make-up.  It  is  painful  to  see  men 
capering  and  maneuvering  on  the  very  extremes  of 
a  genuine  reform,  but  there  will  be  such  in  connection 
with  every  reform,  and  they  must  be  treated  with 
Christian  courtesy.  Of  course  they  will  be  able  to 
tell  the  other  fellow  all  the  particulars,  and  lay  down 
the  law  for  the  management  of  his  case.  They  are 
not  content  with  setting  forth  principles  and  giving 
their  fellowmen  the  liberty  of  choice.  Their  calling 
is  to  lay  down  the  law  as  they  interpret  it  in  all  its 
minutiae,  and  then  condemn  the  other  fellow  for  not 
doing  as  they  tell  him.  We  have  known  them  by 
the  score,  and  sad  to  say,  those  who  know  so  much 
about  regulating  the  other  fellow,  are  almost  sure 
eventually  to  run  head-on  ofif  the  track  and  be  left 
to  flounder  in  the  ditch.  There  is  a  speed  limit  on  all 
roads.  The  trouble  is  that  the  extremist  will  run 
so  fast  that  he  will  not  see  the  open  switches  or  the 
danger  signals,  so  he  has  a  smashuj)  which  ruins  him- 
self and  probably  somebody  else.  The  true  reformers 
will  move  on  while  the  extremist  returns  to  his  old 
ways  because  he  could  not  persuade  every  body  else 
to  do  just  as  he  does.  They  seldom  hold  out  to  the 
end.  To  every  person  who  is  convinced  of  the  better 
way  of  living,  we  say  move  steadily  on  towards  your 
highest  ideals.  Connect  with  the  people  who  give 
evidence  of  having  the  "spirit  of  love  and  of  power 
and  of  a  sound  mind."  Take  one  step  at  a  time.  He 
who  attempts  to  jump  from  his  present  footing  to  the 
top  of  the  ladder  will  probably  miss  the  lighting  place 
and  go  tumbling  far  below  where  he  now  stands.  We 
can  all  afford  to  be  patient  toward  all  men  as  we 
endeavor    to    lead    all    steadily    onward    and    upward. 


392  ESSENTIALS  TO  LIFE  AND  HEALTH 

To  see  the  diseased  animals  driven  to  the  slaughter 
and  think  of  scrofula,  trichina  (])ork  worm)  tape  worm, 
cases  of  poisoning  from  canned  meats,  tuberculosis, 
dyspepsia  and  rheumatism,  neuralgia,  asthma,  Bright's 
disease,  ulcers,  boils,  and  eczemas,  and  a  score  of  other 
diseases,  that  result  directly  from  tlesh  eating,  is 
enough  to  make  one  very  cautious  about  taking 
chances  on  the  eating  of  dead  things.  When  the  senses 
and  judgment  are  convinced  it  will  not  take  long  to 
get  the  mind  made  up  if  one  cares,  and  then  appetite 
will  not  clamor  very  long  for  indulgence  wdien  the 
will  positively  says  no.  lUu  no  one  should  undertake 
to  lay  aside  flesh  until  he  is  convinced  of  the  wdsdom 
of  doing  so,  and  knows  the  importance  of  supplying 
such  foods  as  peas,  beans,  lentils,  wheatmcal,  oatmeal, 
nuts,  etc.,  to  take  the  place  of  the  flesh.  He  who  lives 
on  fine  flour  bread  and  potatoes  alone  will  fare  about 
as  badly  as  the  one  who  lives  on  meat  and  potatoes, 
unless  he  gets  diseased  meats.  The  muscle  and  nerve 
making  element  must  be  supplied. 

Once  the  toxic  elements  in  the  flesh  are  dispensed 
with,  the  wdiole  nervous  system  will  run  smoother. 
There  will  be  fever  ups  and  downs  in  one's  feelings, 
less  impatience,  less  animal  passion,  more  courage  and 
hope  and  good  cheer.  It  will  take  a  few  weeks  or 
months  to  realize  results.  "The  ways  of  wisdom  are 
])leasantness  and  all  her  ])aths  are  peace."  The  self 
denial  needed  in  establishing  habits  of  self  control 
will  be  more  than  fully  rewarded  by  the  rest  and 
comfort  that  are  sure  to  follow.  There  is  a  physical 
])eace  which  is  very  conducive  to  spiritual  growth. 
We  may  not  cat  ourselves  into  a  state  of  righteousness, 
but  we  will  ha\-c  a  poor  time  s])irit  u;dl_\-  if  we  trample 


REFORMS  AND  EXTREMES         393 

under  foot  the  natural  law.  The  necessity  for  reform 
will  appeal  only  to  those  who  sec  somethings  of  the 
ruin  that  has  been  wrought  bv  the  evil  habits  which 
have  been  bcc|ueathe(l  to  us  as  a  heritage  from  our 
forefathers. 

Reforms  in  Dress. 

Especially  will  it  Ijc  difficult  to  prrxluce  a  sufficient 
revulsion  aj^ainst  the  present  mode  of  woman's  dress, 
to  cause  her  in  every  case  to  rise  superior  to  the  influ- 
ence brought  to  bear  on  everyone  who  steps  aside 
from  the  beaten  ]xath.  A\'omen  in  our  touai  have 
so  little  to  occu])y  their  minds  that  they  have  ample 
time  to  slino-  out  reproachful,  slighting-  remarks  and 
just  turn  u])  llu'ir  noses  at  everything'  in  dress  which 
is  not  strictly  conventional,  and  this  is  what  cuts; 
the  young  woman  to  the  very  core  and  discourages  her 
from  donning  any  form  of  apparel  that  will  make  her 
"look  odd."  This  method  which  the  devotees  of  fash- 
ion adopt  is  not  reasonable,  nor  sensible,  nor  kind,  nor 
L'hristian.     It  is  simply  contemi)tiblc. 

There  arc  some  sensible,  motherly  women  \\\u>  will 
stand  by  those  who  are  struggling  into  the  paths  of 
life;  and  here  is  the  place  for  strong-minded  young 
husbands  and  }-oung  lo\ers  to  step  in  and  >lio\\  their 
appreciation  oi  those  true  womanly  virtues  which  de- 
mand liberty  and  freedom  from  the  galling  yoke  of 
fashion.  Let  the  clergy  speak  wlun  once  they  are 
convinced.  The  crucial  point  of  reform  is  the  waist 
line.  Here  is  where  the  battle  rages.  It  takes  C(<urage 
to  follow  the  conxietiMUs  that  come  from  a  stud\-  of 
human  anatom\.  it  does  seem  sometimes  that  all 
our  wr)men  ought   id  be  taken   ti>   the  dissecting  room 

26 


394  ESSENTIALS    TO    LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

and  there  see  the  tu1)crculoiis  lungs,  the  distorted 
livers,  the  prolapsed  stomachs,  the  diseased  and  dis- 
placed kidneys,  the  ruined  intestines,  the  horrible 
tumors,  the  fallen  wombs  and  enlarged  ovaries.  If 
they  could  see  the  swollen,  bloodshot,  diseased  look 
on  nearly  every  organ  below  the  waist  line,  it  might 
have  a  somewhat  sobering  efifect.  We  are  afraid  all 
the  physicians  would  not  care  to  give  lessons  along 
this  line,  for  here  is  the  richest  field  for  surgery,  and 
out  of  these  miseries  the  great  fortunes  among  physi- 
cians have  been  gathered.  In  our  country  there  is 
scarcely  one  sound  healthy  woman  in  a  thousand. 
They  are  all  more  or  less  wretched  and  feeble.  Most 
of  them  can  have  no  conception  of  how  miserable 
they  are,  for  scarce  one  ever  has  known  what  it  was 
to  feel  well  and  natural  for  one  hour  since  the  bands 
began  to  be  applied.  It  is  impossible  to  appreciate  the 
value  of  a  thing,  the  loss  of  which  we  have  forgotten. 
How  many  lonesome  firesides;  how  many  childless 
wretched  women  ;  how  many  forsaken  deserted  homes; 
how  many  a  suicide  has  gone  to  God's  acre ;  and  how 
many  other  sorry  things  might  be  truly  said,  all  be- 
cause mothers  have  not  had  the  courage  to  grow  their 
daughters  up  to  womanhood  without  moulding  their 
waistline  after  the  dictates  of  this  modern  moloch. 
Mothers,  how  you  would  despise  the  work  of  an  artist 
who  would  put  on  canvas  a  life-sized  picture  of  a 
beautiful  young  woman  with  tlie  abundant  thighs 
and  hips  and  abdomen  and  chest,  and  insignificant 
waist  dimensions.  Just  look  at  that  outline.  Is  it 
not  true  to  the  reality?  Verily.  Who  fashioned  that 
horrible  form?  Didn't  you  help  do  it?  I  don't  wonder 
that    qnantities    of    dry    goods    are    used    to    hide    the 


REFORMS  AND  EXTREMES         395 

monstrosity.  Don't  you  admire  the  \'enus  of  Milo 
and  the  graceful  form  of  Queen  Louise?  Did  you  not 
admire  the  cherub  form  of  those  little  girls  before 
the  wicked  distortion  began?  Then  in  the  name  of 
God  and  humanity  why  don't  you  let  those  forms 
alone  as  near  as  possible  as  the  Creator  made  them? 

Of  this  wicked  transformation  w^e  can  truly  say 
''x-\n  enemy  hath  done  this."  The  medical  fraternity 
might,  if  they  would  join  forces,  put  an  end  to  all 
this  wickedness,  but  scarce  one  of  them  ever  raises 
the  warning.  Here  is  the  point  of  attack  for  the  be- 
ginning of  an  anti-tuberculosis  campaign.  Shall  we 
ever  see  the  day  when  Christian  women  will  cease 
to  serve  the  god  of  this  world?  It  will  take  courage 
to  stand  against  the  evil  system,  but  some  certainly 
will  do  it,  yes,  must  do  it,  or  the  human  race  in  Amer- 
ica is  doomed  to  ruin. 

Tobacco,  Snuff,  Liquor  and  Opium,  and 
Tea  and  Coffee. 

L'nder  "Drugs,  Stimulants  and  Narcotics"  we  have 
shown  the  physiological  reason  why  these  things 
should  be  avoided.  Reform  along  these  lines  has  been 
dragging  its  weary  length  along  for  many  years.  The 
work  has  been  so  slow,  chiefiy  because  of  the  table 
habits  of  the  people,  and  ])ecause  the  government  has 
sought  revenue  by  licensing  the  sale  of  the  grosser 
things.  Every  indulgence  in  milder  to.xics.  creates 
hankerings  and  cravings  for  something  stronger.  This 
is  because  of  reactions  in  the  nerves,  due  to  overwork 
in  ridding  the  system  of  the  results  of  the  lesser  in- 
dulgences. Rut  we  have  referred  to  this  elsewhere. 
Let   us  pass  (in   to  the  moral   and  aesthetic  aspect   "i 


396  ESSENTIALS    TO    LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

the  question.  Tirother,  you  are  a  lover  of  art,  and 
beauty  and  consistency  ;  you  certainly  have  some  ap- 
preciation of  nobilit}'  and  refinement.  Vou  have  seen 
some  striking  pictures  of  that  Master  Teacher  who 
walked  o\er  the  hills  and  through  the  vales  of  Judea 
and  Galilee  some  eig'hteen  centuries  ago,  whose  lifcj 
and  i>recepts  have  in  a  measure  influenced  the  civilized 
world.  Xo  ranting  infidel  e\er  finds  fault  with  that 
Jesus  of  .Xazareth.  Xow  suppose  an  artist  should 
paint  a  picture  of  the  Master  with  a  meerschaum  pipe 
in  his  mouth  or  a  stain  of  tobacco  juice  running"  down 
tlie  corner  of  his  moutii  and  dropping  on  his  gar- 
ments. ( )r  picture  Him  ever  so  uice  with  a  gold  or 
sih'er  tobacco  box  and  He  just  in  the  act  of  taking 
a  fresh  quid  of  fine-cut ;  or  picture  Him  in  His  seam- 
less robe  just  in  the  act  of  taking  a  schooner  of  beer, 
not  to  say  a  glass  of  whisky  or  drinking  from  a  bottle. 
How  would  you  feel  with  such  a  picture  before  you, 
and  what  would  you  say?  Your  thoughts,  I  am  sure, 
would  make  an  excellent  chapter  for  insertion  right 
here.  Would  that  combination  ennoble  the  habit  or 
degrade  ihe  Dix'ine  Character?  Suppose,  again.  Sister, 
some  deft  artist  should  fashion  and  present  you  with  a 
])icture  of  Mary,  the  mother  of  Jesus,  or  Elizabeth, 
tlie  mother  of  John  the  llaptist,  with  a  snufif  box  and 
a  dip  stick  just  in  the  act  of  indulging,  would  you 
l)e  j'jleased  at  the  ha]:)])y  design,  or  w'ould  yoiu"  in- 
dignation boil  at  the  degrading  incongruity?  If  our 
better  natures  are  not  entirely  crushed  already,  they 
will  rejoice  at  the  thought  of  deliverance  from  such 
forbidding  relationshi])s  in  otir  owm  lives.  What ! 
married  to  tobbaco?  in  love  with  a  snuff  box?  a  slave 
to  tin-  ])ii>e  or  bottle?  bowing  down  to  worship  at  the 


REFORMS  AND  EXTREMES         397 

shrine  of  tea  and  coffee?  Let  hnmanity  as  well  as 
God  forbid  it.  Reader,  there  is  something  nobler  and 
better  for  us.  The  use  of  opium,  cocaine,  and  liquor, 
and  to  some  extent  the  use  of  tobacco,  is  a  direct 
physical  and  financial  injury  to  the  civilized  commun- 
ity. Hence  the  community  have  a  right  to  restrain, 
yes,  even  absolutely  prohibit  the  manufacture,  sale 
and  use  of  these  things.  Trohibition  with  the  spirit 
of  the  Master  in  control  ivould  be  a  mighty  sweeping 
power  for  good.  l>ut  let  the  personal  animosit}',  hate 
and  ugliness  be  all  eliminated.  And  let  all  inconsist- 
ency disappear.  Let  not  the  fellow  with  the  meer- 
schaum or  the  cigar  undertake  to  Icjrd  it  over  the 
fellow  with  the  bottle;  and  let  not  the  pious  soul  who 
does  her  wasliing  on  ihe  strength  of  a  pot  of  tea 
cause  her  indignation  to  be  felt  because  her  neighbor 
braces  himself  for  his  tasks  with  gin  or  brandy,  or 
because  his  son  drinks  beer  at  the  saloon.  Indulgence 
is  indulgence.  When  the  indiA-idual  is  consistently 
organized  in  himself,  so  that  he  is  an  example  of  what 
men  ought  to  be.  he  will  have  a  power  for  good  that 
will  be  felt,  without  any  outward  demonstrations.  Then 
l>ersuasion  will  ha\"e  its  legitimate  value,  and  there 
will  be  less  need  of  force,  and  it  force  is  needed  it  will 
be  more  effective  because  backed  by  a  well  ordered 
consistent  life.  I.ct  ilu'  iixlixidual  ])roliibit  himself 
first,  and  llun  in  due  time,  il'  necessary,  prohibit  the 
other  feilow.  Self  denial  is  prohibition  at  home.  Pro- 
hibition at  large  is  trying  to  deny  the  other  fellow's 
self.     Prohibition,  like  charity,  should  begin  at  home. 


THE  AFTERWORD. 

We  have  heard  much  all  uur  lives  about  j^ettino" 
ready  to  die,  as  though  dying  was  the  goal,  the  object 
of  our  eixstence.  There  is  not  a  thing  in  nature  nor 
in  the  word  of  God  suggesting  either  a  physical  or 
moral  pre])aration  for  death.  (  )ne  man,  Hezekiah  only, 
was  exhorted  to  "set  his  house  in  order" — to  make  his 
wdll  and  appoint  his  successor.  The  entire  doctrine 
of  grace  is  get  read}^  to  live.  \"ery  few  are  fit  to  live. 
Once  we  are  fit  to  live,  dying  becomes  a  matter  of  lit- 
tle consequence.  "Ye  are  dead  and  your  life  is  hid 
with  Christ  in  God;  when  Christ,  who  is  our  life, 
shall  appear  then  shall  ye  also  appear  with  Him  in 
glory,"  and  "Christ  hath  abolished  death  and  brought 
life  and  immortalit}'  to  light  through  the  Gospel."  To 
him  who  is  in  touch  with  the  l^ivine  the  transition  to 
the  future  eternal  life  is  practically  instantaneous.  It 
is  but  a  moment  of  sleeping  and  awakening,  to  the  in- 
dividual so  brief  that  really  he  knows  no  intermission 
between  the  two  worlds.  So  death  through  the  resur- 
rection is  abolished  and  life  to  the  individual  becomes 
practically  continuous,  only  just  enough  break  to  war- 
rant the  Apostle  in  saying,  "The  promise  of  the  life 
that  now  is  and  of  that  which  is  to  come."  And  the 
two  worlds  must  make  a  "perfect  splice."  The  future 
eternal  life  begins  here  in  this  life  in  righteousness  and 
peace.     Our  respect  for  and   appreciation   of  creative 


THE  AFTERWORD  399 

power  is  manifest  in  the  way  we  use  this  life.  To 
sense  the  vakie  of  Hfe  and  appreciate  its  privileges 
and  respect  its  obligations  is  the  beginning  of  the  Di- 
\'ine  life.  "Whereby  are  given  unto  us  exceeding 
great  and  precious  promises,  that  by  these  ye  might 
become  partakers  of  the  Divine  Nature  having  es- 
caped the  corruption  that  is  in  the  world  through 
lust."  W'e  may  ha\e  "the  promise  of  the  life  that  now 
is  and  of  that  which  is  to  come,"  and  these  promises 
may  be  "exceeding  great  and  precious"  to  us.  To 
learn  to  care  for  life  in  all  its  fullness  is  the  greatest 
accomplishment  attainable.  To  sense  the  value  of  and 
appreciate  it,  is  to  value  and  appreciate  eternal  life, 
and  this  opens  the  way  to  become  acquainted  with  the 
life   giver.         ' 

This  knowledge  is  infinitely  superior  to  commercial- 
ism and  money  getting  and  every  other  form  of  sen- 
suality. 

The  attempt  in  the  foregoing  pages  has  been  to 
simplify  the  subject  of  Hygiene  and  make  it  attrac- 
tive. To  make  it  practical,  the  reader  should  put  into 
use  any  portion  of  the  suggestions  that  seem  clear.  In 
doing  this,  one  will  soon  have  the  assurance  of  the  re- 
sults. There  is  nothing  like  knowing  we  are  right 
except  being  right.  W^e  sometimes  think  we  know 
we  are  right  when  we  may  yet  have  much  to  learn, 
but  when  we  intelligently  experience  a  truth  in  our 
own  life  there  is  an  assurance  that  puts  theoretical 
knowledge  in  the  shade.  The  man  who  learns  the 
value  of  some  of  these  agencies  on  which  the  Creator 
has  made  life  dependent  will  want  to  know  more  of 
ihem,  and  as  his  experimental  knowledge  increases,  he 
will  be  drawn  out  more  and  more  toward  the  Creator 


400  ESSENTIALS    TO     LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

Himself,  for  these  are  the  things  in  which  the  Creator 
is  interested.  When  we  see  and  appreciate  the  work 
of  some  threat  architect  there  gradually  springs  up  in 
I  he  heart  a  desire  to  know  that  architect.  We  respect 
and  honor  him  and  seek  his  acquaintance  for  his  work's 
sake.  So,  reader,  we  recommend  to  you  a  still  further 
>tudy  of  these  natural  things  that  lie  so  close  to  us, 
and  of  life  itself,  in  order  that  you  may  be  drawn  out 
after  the  Author  of  life  and  take  His  Word  for  gaining 
a  knowledge  of  the  life  to  come. 

We  have  not  told  all  the  particulars  in  this  little 
book  simply  for  want  of  space,  and  because  we  do 
not  desire  to  surfeit  the  reader.  We  have  given  all 
the  ])rinciples  and  a  lot  of  the  particulars.  Xow  we 
invite   criticisms  and   question    for   information. 

The  Modern  Hygiene  Publishing  Company  stands 
ready  to  answer  any  in(|uiries  for  information  and 
l)romises  faithfidly  to  incorporate  in  following"  editions 
an_\'  changes  that  just  criticism  may  show  are  neces- 
sary. \\'e  are  out  for  progress  in  Health  Education. 
We  are  not  manufacturing  any  articles  of  food  nor  an}- 
health  api)liances  and  we  have  nothing  to  sell.  At 
the  same  time  we  will  assist  any  correspondent  to  ob- 
tain any  articles  for  M}-gicnic  use  which  thev  cannot 
readil}'   obtain    in    their  own    \icinity. 

The  writer  has  enjoyed  this  effort  at  interesting 
you  more  deeply  in  the  subject  of  Life,  ami  he  hopes 
your  reading  has.  ])vvu  ;i  --ouree  of  ])leasure  and  j)rofit 
to  you.  At  some  future  time  we  may  meet  again  to 
consider  more  fully  some  of  the  ])oints  that  liaxe  been 
l)ut  lightly  touclKMl  ill  this  \<ihnne.  rntil  that  time 
we  ])id  \<)U  a  eheerlul.  e<iuragt-ous  and  pi'(  iL;ressi\"e, 
Adieu. 


APPENDIX  A. 
Disinfection  and  Disinfectants. 

just  a  few  words  about  the  subject  iu  general  be- 
fore giving"  some  simple  measures  applicable  with 
safety  by  an  intelligent  person  in  any  home.  Many 
diseases  are  known  to  be  caused  or  influenced  by  the 
presence  of  certain  miscroscopic  organisms  called 
bacteria,  or  germs.  Because  the  sjireading  of  the 
germs  scatters  the  disease,  they  are  termed  infectious, 
hence  the  importance  of  ]n-eventing,  as  far  as  possible, 
the  dissemination  of  these  active  causes. 

Two  means  are  at  liand  to  accomplish  this — quar- 
antine and  (lisinl\'Cli(  m.  'I'o  acc()m])lish  the  first, 
isolate  the  j^atient.  refusing  access  on  the  part  of  all 
but  those  whose  duty  it  is  to  care  for  the  sick  one. 
and  they  in  turn  must  not  mingle  with  those  outside. 
All  articles  coming  from  the  sick  room  must  be  dis- 
infected before  being  haiulled  by  those  whom  we 
are  seeking  to  protect. 

Disinfection. 

i'irst  a   few    detinilions. 

Sepsis  means  ])utrefac' ion    from   presence  of  germs, 
and  such  a  ])arl  is  septic  or  infected. 
Aseptic   means   without   sepsis. 
Antiseptic  means  oi)posed  to  sepsis. 
To  sterilize  is  to  rk-strov  germs. 


402         ESSENTIALS    TO    LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

Hence  any  substance  or  means  used  to  destroy 
germs  is  an  antiseptic,  or  a  disinfectant;  and  their 
proper  use  aids  greatly  botii  in  limiting  the  spread  of 
disease  to  others,  and  modifying  its  course  in  those 
infected.  The  following  simple  measures  are  easy  of 
application,  and  safe. 

Heat. 

The  first  in  importance  when  applicable,  which  it 
is  to  all  dishes,  clothes,  beddings,  etc.,  which  will 
not  be  injured  by  boiling  water.  Useless  articles 
should  be  burned. 

Many  diseases,  especially  those  of  the  intestinal 
tract,  such  as  typhoid  fever,  dysentery,  cholera,  etc.. 
are  transmitted  by  polluted  water,  or  milk,  and  so 
all  drinking  water  and  all  milk  used,  should  be  boiled 
when   these   diseases   arc   prevalent. 

Peroxide  of  Hydrogen. 

This  can  always  be  obtained  at  any  drug  store, 
and  is  excellent  for  cleansing  any  wound  or  cavity 
containing"  pus,  in  the  presence  of  which  it  causes  a 
brisk  foaming,  and  so  should  be  used  cautiously  if 
the  ^cavity  does  not  have  a  free  opening.  Otherwise 
the  tension  caused  by  the  gas  formation  may  become 
very  painful,  and  even  be  dangerous  in  certain  loca- 
tions. Apply  directly  with  a  medicine  dropper,  either 
pure  or  diluted  with  2  to  4  parts  of  sterilized  water. 
Wounds  cleansed  in  this  way  may  be  dusted  with 
boracic  acid  and  dressings  applied. 

Boric  or  Borate  Acid. 

A  mild  and  harmless  antiseptic.    Fill  a  bottle  three- 


APPENDIX  A  403 

quarters  full  of  water  that  has  just  been  boiled,  and 
add  the  powder,  shaking-  thoroughly  till  the  undis- 
solved residue  falls  to  the  bottom.  This  "saturated 
solution"  is  an  efficient  disinfectant  for  sensitive  parts, 
and  is  the  essential  basis  of  a  number  of  "eye-waters." 
The  same  can  be  used  for  cleansing  the  sore  mouths  of 
babies,  as  well  as  the  nipple  before  it  is  given  the 
l^reast. 

Prepared  on  a  larger  scale  and  diluted  with  three 
parts  of  sterile  water,  the  above  solution  is  very 
valuable  in  irrigating  the  bladder  in  cases  of  chronic 
inflammation  of  that  organ,  but  care  must  be  taken 
that  all  vessels  used  in  the  operation  are  sterile.  First 
lessons  in  this  are  best  taken  from*  a  physican  or 
trained  nurse. 

Permanganate  Potash. 

Is  \-aluable  for  cleansing  foul  ulcers,  such  as  can- 
cers, etc.,  where  there  are  strong  odors.  Persons 
with  foul  smelling  feet  will  find  this  one  of  the  best 
deodorants.  Use  one  dram  of  the  crystals  to  a  pint 
nf  water.  If  too  strong  the  skin  will  be  stained. 
Either  this  or  pure  peroxide  can  be  sprayed  into  the 
throat  with  an  atomizer  in  diphtheria,  tonsilitis  or 
scarlet  fever. 

Quick  Lime. 

Quick  lime  applied  liberally  to  cess  pools  and  privy 
\aults  will  do  much  to  disinfect  them,  while  cellars 
and  musty  basements  can  be  sweetened  by  a  liberal 
use  of  freshlv  made  whitewash. 


404  ESSENTIALS    TO    LIFE    AND    HEALTH 

Cloride  of  Lime. 

I'^our  ounces  of  this  to  one  gallon  of  water  makes 
a  solution  to  be  used  in  the  vessel  recei\  in;^'  the  bowel 
discharges  from  typhoid  patients.  Co\er  the  dis- 
charges and  allow  to  stand  one  hour  ])efore  commit- 
ting them   to  the  drain  or   \ault. 

Room  Disinfection. 

How  to  disinfect  a  room  after  having  a  contagious 
disease  is  of  imi)ortance  to  those  hexond  the  service 
of  the  health  office,  and  the  following  points  will  be 
found  useful.  The  isolation  room  should  never  have 
had  surplus  rugs  or  draperies,  but  once  occupied  by  a 
contagious  disease,  none  should  be  removed  unless 
for  the  purpose  of  disinfection,  \\dien  ready  to  dis- 
infect, paste  strips  of  paper  over  the  cracks  to  make 
as  airtight  as  possible.  Loosen  \\\)  all  bedding"  or 
clothes  by  hanging  o\er  chairs,  or  lines  stretched 
across  the  room,  and  then  use  either  of  tlie  followins' 


'!^ 


Sulphur. 

FMace  a  trd)  containing  two  inches  of  water  in  the 
center  of  the  room.  L'])on  some  bricks  in  the  tul) 
])lace  an  old  kettle  containing  three  pounds  of  sul- 
pliur  for  each  1000  cul)ic  feet  of  space.  This  will  cor- 
rode metals  and  bleach  dry  goods.  Tliis  can  be  pur- 
chased in  conxenient  candle  form  at  almost  anv  drug 
store    will)    full    directions. 

Formalin. 

Get  a  bottle  of  formalin  at  the  drug  stc^^e,  and  add 

ten  times  the  xolume  of  water.     Sprinkle  this  liberally 

.over    bedding,    rugs    and    carpets.-      Wring    sheets    or 


APPENDIX  B  405 

cloths  from  the  same  and  hang  over  a  line  in  the  room. 
Leave  room  closed  for  12  hours.  This  will  not  injure 
any  fabric.  The  above  can  be  purchased  with  full 
directions   accompanying. 

Any  one  using  these  measures  can  feel  that  reason- 
ably efficient  methods  of  disinfection  have  been  used 
in  each  instance,  and  these  illustrative  uses  will  sug- 
gest others  where  the  same  means  may  l)e  success- 
fully employed. 


B. 

The  Enema. 

This  consists  of  taking  water  into  the  bowels  lor 
the  purpose  chiefly  of  relie\ing  constipation  or  piles. 
It  may  be  of  any  desired  temperature.  The  most 
successful  method  of  giving  the  enema  is  by  using 
the  long  colon  tube  and  the  fountain  or  siphon  syr- 
inge. Fill  the  fountain  and  hang  it  up  about  four 
to  six  feet  above  the  patient.  Now  having  con- 
nected the  colon  tube  with  the  syringe  hose,  oil  the 
tube  for  some  distance,  and  start  the  water  so  as  tti 
till  the  hose  and  tube.  And  then  with  the  patient 
lying  on  the  back  insert  the  tube  in  the  Ixnvel  for 
two  or  three  inches,  start  the  water  flowing  and 
gradually  ])ress  the  tube  u])\vanl  until  most  of  the 
tube  is  in  the  ])o\vel.  This  carries  the  water  back 
above  the  rectuni  into  the  colon  where  it  is  needed. 
This  method  i)revents  stretching  and  disabling  the 
lectum  as  is  often  done  when  the  enema  is  given  for 
a  long  time  with  the  ordinary  short  tube. 

Caution. — .\lwavs   start    the    water   so   as    tu   till    the 


406         ESSENTIALS    TO    LIFE     AND    HEALTH 

tube  and  thus  prevent  injecting  air  into  the  bowels; 
and  introduce  the  water  slowly  so  as  not  to  cause 
painful  distension  of  the  bowel. 

The  Douche. 

This  consists  of  water"  of  any  desired  temperature 
taken  into  the  vagina  with  the  patient  lying  on  the 
back  on  a  board  which  drains  into  the  bath  tub  or 
other  receptacle.  The  same  kind  of  an  apparatus  is 
needed  as  in  giving  the  enema,  except  a  larger  foun- 
tain and  a  special  tube  instead  of  the  colon  tube. 

The  chief  advantage  of  the  douche  is  gained  in 
taking  it  long  continued,  say  for  twenty-five  or  thirty 
minutes,  very  hot,  about  116  to  118  degrees.  This  is 
the  best  remedy  for  congestion  of  these  parts.  To 
make  it  most  effective  the  outside  parts  should  be 
gathered  up  aljout  the  tube,  thus  gently  holding  the 
water  in  until  every  fold  of  the  vagina  is  thoroughly 
exposed  to  the  hot  water,  then  let  it  all  escape.  This 
should    be   repeated   several   times. 

If  von  want  to  understand  the  philosophy  of  rc- 
lic\ing  congestion  with  heat,  look  at  the  washer- 
woman's hands  after  they  have  been  in  hot  water  for 
thirty  miiuites.  The  best  time  to  take  the  douche  is 
on   retiring,  or  else  rest  two  hours  afterward. 

Treatment  of  Glandular  Swelling. 

In  view  of  the  shrinking  effects  of  hot  water,  nearly 
all  glandular  swellings  like  Quinsy  should  be  treated 
with  long  continued  fomentations  and  followed  with 
the  all  night,  and  if  necessary,  the  all  day  heating 
compress.  In  quinsy  hot  steam  inhalations  are  most 
excellent.     Set   the   tea    kettle   on    a   little   oil,   or   gas 


APPENDIX  C  407 

stove,  with  only  a  small  quantity  of  water,  and  take 
the  steam  through  a  long  roll  of  manila  paper. 


a 

A  False  Notion  About  Flesh  Eating. 

The  sentiment  prevails  quite  generally  among  peo- 
ple who  have  been  for  a  long  time  accustomed  to 
meat  eating,  that  there  is  a  specially  superior  flavor 
about  flesh  of  different  kinds  that  makes  it  much 
more  palatable  than  various  kinds  of  grains,  fruits 
and  vegetables.  This  notion  will  evaporate  at  once 
when  you  stop  to  consider  how  much  salt  and  pepper 
and  thyme  and  garlic  and  onion  and  sage  and  sum- 
mer savory  and  bay  leaves  and  cloves  and  parsley,  in 
the  way  of  condiments ;  and  how  many  ordinar}' 
vegetables  are  used  to  give  the  meat  flavor  and  make 
it  toothsome  and  tasty.  Flesh,  generally  speaking, 
that  is  not  fixed  up  with  some  of  these  things  would 
go  begging  on  many  tables.  Sometimes  the  flesh  has 
to  be  scorched  a  little  to  give  it  a  desirable  flavor. 
Now  in  wide  contrast  with  this,  very  few  of  the 
grains,  fruits  and  vegetables  have  need  of  anything 
l)ul  a  little  salt  or  sugar  to  make  them  fully  palatable, 
and  most  grain  foods  become  much  more  acceptable 
when  once  the  person  has  habited  himself  to  using 
them  with  a  trifle  of  salt  only. 

If  it  took  as  much  seasoning  to  make  \egetal)lc 
foods  acceptable  to  the  taste,  as  it  does  to  make  meats 
eatable,  people  might  well  cry  out  against  tlicm  as 
articles  of  food.     .\  still  closer  analysis  of  the  question 


408  ESSENTIALS    TO    IvIFE    AND    HEALTH 

of  appetite  for  and  flavor  of  flesh  foods  would  result 
in  the  conclusion  that  the  principal  cause  of  the  spe- 
cial cravings  for  them  is  the  presence  of  the  toxic  ele- 
ments in  these  foods.  It  certainly  is  not  their  specific 
flavor  that  makes  them  so  much  more  called  for  than 
vegetable  foods  generally,  for  as  the  above  considera- 
tions show,  most  of  the  flavorings  used  to  make  them 
])alatable  come  from  the  vegetable  world. 

What  gives  the  meat  the  little  flavor  it  naturally 
has,  is  the  excrementitious  waste  in  the  venous  cir- 
culation as  found  in  the  juices  which  may  be  pressed 
or  washed  out  of  it.  When  the  juice  is  once  ex- 
tracted there  is  scarce  any  flavor  left  in  the  flesh  more 
than  is  found  in  the  white  of  eggs  or  gluten.  And  the 
nutrition  is  found  in  the  tasteless  fiber  and  not  in  the 
"beef  juice."  The  modern  mixtures  of  peanuts  and 
gluten  which  "taste  like  meat,"  receive  their  sugges- 
tion of  meat  fla\or  from  the  slight  scorching  to  which 
the  gluten  and  proteid  of  the  nuts  receives  in  the 
])rocess  of  manufacture.  WHien  cither  lean  meat  or 
gluten  or  white  of  eggs  is  scorched  in  cooking  an  ex- 
])ert  can  scarcely  tell  which  it  is  by  the  smell. 

We  do  not  see  any  special  advantage  in  cultivating 
this  artificial  taste,  especially  when  the  foods  used  to 
imitate  it  are  made  more  indigestible  by  the  scorching 
which  they  receive. 

Many  false  notions  will  disappear  from  human 
minds  when  the  a])]ietite  is  drawn  away  from  its  un- 
natural ways  and  brought  back  to  purer,  cleaner  and 
less  stimulating  articles  of  food. 


•APPENDIX  D  409 

D 

Appendicitis, 

If  you  happen  to  be  taken  with  a  severe  pain  in  the 
upper  part  of  the  right  groin  or  with  a  steady  grum- 
bling ache  that  gradually  increases,  you  may  wisely 
suspect  appendicitis.  It  may  have  been  caused  by  a 
long-continued  habit  of  constipation,  or  it  may  have 
come  from  an  acrid  watery  condition  of  the  bowels. 
If  the  suspicion  overtakes  you  that  you  have  it,  or  if 
the  Doctor  says  you've  got  it,  don't  get  excited  and 
lose  your  head.  Calmly,  quietly  do  one  of  two  things ; 
cither  go  right  to  the  hospital  without  delay  and  get 
right  up  on  the  operating  table  and  have  the  appendix 
removed,  or  follow  at  once  the  course  of  treatment 
we  will  here  mark  out.  Get  two  good  large  hot  water 
rubber  bottles  and  fifteen  or  twenty  pounds  of  ice. 
Fill  the  water  bottles  two-thirds  full  with  water  as 
hot  as  can  be  borne,  taking  pains  to  press  out  the  air. 
Place  these  at  the  left  side  and  the  back  over  the 
short  ribs.  Now  wrap  a  piece  of  ice  the  size  of  hall 
a  brick  in  a  couple  of  thicknesses  of  common  towel- 
ing and  place  this  over  the  appendix.  After  half  an 
hour  remove  the  ice  pack  and  put  the  hot  water  bottle 
over  the  appendix  for  five  minutes.  Then  replace  the 
ice.  Repeat  this  every  half-hour,  and  keep  the  treat- 
ment up  all  day  and  all  night  and  all  the  next  day 
and  night,  if  necessary,  until  the  uneasiness  and  pain 
have  subsided.  Then  keep  quiet  for  a  few  days  in 
bed.  If  there  is  any  suggestion  of  slowness  or  any 
kind  of  disturbance  in  the  bowels,  a  large  hot  enema 
should   be   taken    with   the   coU.n    tube   at   a   tempera- 


410  ESSENTIALS  TO  EIFE  AND  HEALTH 

ture  of  108°  or  110°,  containing  a  tablespoonful  of 
salt  to  a  quart  of  water.  It  is  better  always  not  to 
neglect  to  do  this  thoroughly  on  the  start,  and  once 
daily  as  long  as  the  trouble  continues. 

The  towel  wrapping  the  ice  must  be  frequently 
wrung  out  to  prevent  the  bed  from  getting  soaked. 

A  better  plan  is  to  use  the  rubber  ice  bag,  and  a  hot 
blanket  pack  from  the  ribs  to  the  feet,  with  bricks  or 
hot  water  bottles  to  the  sides  and  limbs. 

This  sanitarium  method  of  treating  this  trouble 
is  bound  to  be  successful  if  used  at  first,  and  it  is  much 
preferred  to  surgery,  especially  for  those  who  do  not 
enjoy  the  idea  of  being  "cut." 

Those  who  are  not  well  equipped  with  apparatus 
at  home,  and  those  who  have  had  little  experience  in 
caring  for  the  sick  would  do  well  to  either  go  quickly 
to  some  good  nearby  sanitarium  or  send  for  a  good 
physician  and  nurse  who  are  well  instructed  in  this 
line  of  treatment. 

As  in  Diphtheria,  delays  are  dangerous,  so  prompt 
action  is  necessary.  Indeed  it  is  never  wise  to  neglect 
any  danger  signals  that  nature  displays.  But  it  is 
never  best  to  get  frightened  so  badly  that  we  cannot 
deliberately  choose  the  natural  common  sense  way 
of  treating  physical  ailments  before  they  become  dan- 
gerous through  neglect.  This  disease  is  only  an  in- 
flammation of  the  appendix',  caused  by  irritating- 
foods,  or  ferments  from  1  ad  combinations  of  good 
food.  It  is  our  opinion  that  yeast  ferments  have  much 
to  do  with  producing  the  irritations  that  lead  to  this 
dangerous  malady. 

Perhaps  we  ought  to  say  that  in  the  foregoing  we 
have  supposed  the  case  to  be  the  first  attack  one  has 


APPENDIX  D  411 

ever  had.  As  we  have  said,  such  a  case  if  taken 
early  will  almost  surely  yield  to  the  course  of  treat- 
ment suggested.  But  if  it  is  the  third  or  fourth  attack 
there,  is  greater  danger  and  all  the  more  necessity  for 
prompt  action  in  endeavoring  to  abort  the  disease. 
If  the  case  is  neglected,  say  three  or  four  days,  until 
pus  has  gathered  in  the  appendix,  there  is  little  doubt 
that  an  operation  is  much  the  safest  thing. 

The  presence  of  pus  in  the  appendix  can  be  surely 
diagnosed  by  only  one  thing,  and  that  is  called  the 
"blood  count."  Normally  there  is  only  a  certain 
number  of  white  blood  corpuscles — leucocytes — in  the 
blood.  Whenever  there  is  a  pus-forming  inflamma- 
tion at  any  point  in  the  vital  domain  these  leucocytes 
begin  to  increase  in  the  blood  with  great  rapidity 
in  order  to  conquer  the  inflammation,  if  possible.  The 
doctor  who  is  given,  through  education,  to  operating, 
will  do  but  little  for  the  patient  until  the  blood  count 
shows  the  presence  of  pus  in  the  ap^^endix ;  then  he 
will  hasten  to  operate.  The  physician  who  trusts  more 
to  preventive  measures,  will  do  all  in  his  power  to 
prevent  pus  from  forming,  and  thus  make  the  work 
of  operating  less  necessary. 

It  is  astonishing  how  numerous  the  cases  of  this 
serious  trouble  are  becoming.  It  is  wise  to  curb  the 
appetite  for  constipating  and  irritating  foods,  and  to 
learn  to  keep  the  limbs  and  feet  warm  so  as  to  pre- 
vent, as  far  as  possible,  all  pelvic  and  abdominal  con- 
gestions. A  most  important  matter  must  be  again 
suggested — keep  the  moisture  of  the  bod\-  at  a  max- 
imum state  of  fluidity.  This  will  do  perhaps  more 
than  any  other  thing  to  prevent  intlammations.  Over- 
work may  exhaust  vitality,  in  a  feeble  patient,  so  that 


412  ESSENTlAIvS  TO  LIFE  AND  HEALTH 

if  there  is  a  tendency  to  bowel  sensitiveness,  an 
old  case  might  more  easily  recur.  From  our  first  re- 
mark it  might  be  suggested  that  we  place  operating 
first.  Not  so,  however ;  we  say  do  all  you  can  to 
prevent  the  serious  phases  of  this  trouble  by  nipping 
it  in  the  bud,  if  possible.  Cutting  is  not  very  desir- 
able on  account  of  the  danger  from  the  anesthetic; 
and  we  are  not  (|uite  convinced  yet  that  the  Creator 
made  a  mistake  in  puting  the  appendix  in  the  human 
intestines.  VVe  think  the  mistakes  are  on  the  part 
of  humanity  in  not  caring  properly  for  their  heaven- 
<irdaincd  heritage. 

The  Last  Word. 

The  thoughtful  reader  who  has  grasped  the  great 
truth,  that  "Nine-tenths  of  all  the  diseases  which  flesh 
is  heir  to  are  due  to  mental  causes,"  will  not  fail  to 
appreciate  the  sentiments  expressed  on  "Self-Control," 
nor  the  chapters  on  "Habits,"  "Life  and  Labor,"  and 
"Transformations."  He  will  realize  that  everything 
which  legitimately  tends  to  produce  a  calm,  hopeful, 
(juict,  positive  and  self-controlled  state  of  mind,  must 
stand  as  among  the  important  things  on  which  life 
and  all  its  successes  here  and  hereafter  must  de- 
pend.  . 


INDEX. 

PAGE 

Abdominal  Girdle  175 

Acquiring  Chest  Poise  and  Development  167 

Acute  Catarrh  of  the  Bowels 200 

Ache,  That  Awful,  in  Lower  Brain  266 

According  to  My  Experience  295 

Action  of  Stimulants,  l'"alse  Notions  About 63 

Adverse    Mental    Conditions    99 

A   False    Notion    About   Flesh   Eating   407 

Ague,  Chills  and  Fever 246 

Air  Bath  ; 168 

Air  An  Essential 16 

Air  Considered      21 

An  Illustration  104,  109,  147 

Anemia  ., 229 

An  Anecdote  ....: 119 

.\ncient  and  Modern  Alike 141 

.Vn  Inspiration  .  122 

Antitoxins  and  Animal  Serums  331 

Appetite    67,   68,  325 

.\ppc'ndix  A : 401 

Appendix   R 405 

Appendi.x  C      407 

Appendix   D 409 

Appendicitis    409 

.\ro    These  Philosophies  Christian?  135 

.Vrthritis   Deformans  202 

Are  There  Otiier  Essentials  to  Life  and  Health? 2>Z7) 

A    Systematic    Standard    Needed    10 

A  Sleight-of-Mind  Performance  „.116,  117 

.\ssurance   296 

Asthma  211 

.•\  Thorough  Classification  Needed  11 

.\uthor's   i)ependcnce,   The  11 

i'a'sis  of  Health  and  Christianity  98 

Backache    '. 266.  321 

Hack  to  Nature 345 

Bad  Combinations   2S0 

Beans,  How  to  Cook  278 

Best  Mental  Pemcdy  102 

Bcd-wettinir        21  I 


414  INDEX 

PAGE 

Bible  Reveals  a  Creator  105 

Bilious  Troubles  220 

Bladder  Troubles  206 

Black-heads    252 

Blood  Poisoning 242 

Blood  Purifiers  320 

Boils 252 

Boric  or  Boracic  Acid 402 

Boiled  Wheat,  Rye  or  Corn  273 

Brain  Workers  322 

Broken  Vessels  149 

Bread,  Sterilizing  -  275 

Breathing,   How   Performed  163,  166 

Bright's  Disease  206 

Bruises  ..     244 

Bronchitis 223 

Bubonic  Plague 89,  318 • 

Bulk  in  Food  271 

Burns   243 

Buttermilk 201 

Buttermilk  Fad  294 

Cabbage,  How  to  Cook 278 

Causes  of  Disease 85 

Catarrh  of  Bowels,  Acute 200 

Catarrh  of  the  Bowels,  Chronic 201 

Catarrh    216 

Christian  Science  58,  116,  118.  122 

Christians  Will  Not  Brag  113 

Chest  Development,  How  Acquired 167 

Choking 231 

Chills  and  Chilliness 245 

Chills  and  Fever : v 246 

Chickenpox  249 

Chafing  252 

Chewing    271 

Changing   from  Cold  to  Hot  Atmosphere  301 

Chloride  of  Lime  404 

Change  of    Tune 313 

Clothing  an    Essential    16 

Clotliing  Considered    31 

Clothing,  The  Law  of 38 

Cleanliness  an  Aid  to  Cure  188 

Correct  Standard  of  Classification  11 

Coffee   : 66,  395 

Condiments  .—  282 

Complete  Application  of  the  Law  of  Rest  103 

Counterfeits  and  the  Genuine 142 

Cool  Hand  Bathing  171 

Coo!  Shower  Bath  172 


INDEX  415 

PACK 

Colds 260 

Cold  Mitten  Friction  : 174 

Cold  in  Mead,  To  Break  Up  221 

Congestion  of  Lungs 228 

Constipation 198 

Contagious  Diseases  249 

Comedo  252 

Coiton    Oil   276 

Corn  Oil  277 

Combinations,  Good  and  Bad  280 

Creator    14 

Creator  Misrepresented    96 

Creator,  Evidences  of 104,  105 

Creator  Left  Out  of  Worldly  Systems  '    105 

Crinklets 274 

Cucumbers    , 278 

Damp  Beds,  Diseases  Due  to  255 

Development  of  Breathing  Power  162 

Developing  Vital  Resistance 186 

Deforming  Rheumatism,  Miscalled  202 

Dextrinization  of  Foods  287 

Depurating  System,  The  297- 

Distilled  Water  25,   26,    49 

Diaphragm,  Action  of  (See  Cut)  45,  164.  165 

Disease  and  Its  Causes  85 

Diabetes  205 

Diphtheria    ..  225 

Disinfection  and   Disinfectants   401 

Don't  Try  to  Be  a  Hero  301 

Don't  Soak  Too  Much  .- 301 

Douche,    The  406 

Drugs  61 

Dry  Mitten  Friction  168 

Drinking  of  Water  48,  50,  170 

Dress    393 

Dyspepsia    _ 194 

Eating,  The  Law  of  50 

Eczema    251 

Education,    False  About  Drugs   63 

Education,  'irue  Health 10 

Edison,  A  Story  of  11 

Effects  of  Stimulants (>^' 

Effects  of  Flesh  on  Kittens  and  Puppies  67 

Elements  of  Power,  The  149 

Electric  Pads  •..  169 

Electricity  185 

Emanuel  Movement 116,   127,  134 

Enema,  The  405 

Entire  Wheat  Flour  272 


416  INDEX 

PAGB 

Epilepsy  213 

Epicure,  The 271 

Evolution    96 

Evidence  of  a  Creator  : 104,  105 

Evening  Meal,  The 283 

Exercise  an  Essentia!  _ 16 

Exercise    Considered 32,  297 

Exercise,  Law  of  55 

External  Uses  of  Water  171 

Exhalation  Tube  300 

Exposure   When   Weary     .  302 

Extremes    .  388 

Eyes,  Care  of 263 

Favorable  Mental  Conditions  97 

Fainting  ..  211 

Falling  Ilair,  To  Prevent 254 

Fellowship  95,   105,  107,  110,    112,  145,  146 

Felons    251 

Fireless  Cooker,  The  , 275 

Financial  Prosperity  Tempts  to  Luxury  281 

Flesh  Eating,  Effects  on  Kittens  and  Puppies  67 

Flavoring  tlie  Drinking  Water  292 

Food,  an  Essential  16 

Food   Considered   "28 

Forced    Exhalation    : 162 

Forced  Inhalation  163 

Fomentations  172 

Formalin .  404 

Free  Use  of  Sugar  and  Condiments  .  282 

Gall   Stones 256 

Germicides    182 

General  Remarks 268 

Gifts  of  Healings  and  Miracles  -. 77 

Glasses,    Examination   for  305 

Glandular   Swellings,  Treatment  of  406 

Good    Combinations    .  280 

Grape  Cure,  The 201 

Graham  Flour  • 272 

Gruels    : 275 

Hard  Water 292 

Hay  Fever 211 

Habits ; 350 

Heathenism,  How  Developed ...'. 112 

I  Tcatinof  Compress  _ .'. 174 

I  loart  Trouble 208 

Headaches  ..  258 

Here  Is  An  Old  One 303 

I  Icalth   Catching  '. :.;.  309 

Heat  :....:.::.........:. 402 


INDEX  '  417 

PAGB 

Hiccough 213 

Highly    Dextrinized    Foods    287 

High  Heels  321 

House  Building,  Hints  on  329 

How  to  Reform  67 

How  to  Eat   286 

How  to  Give  a  Sweat  178 

How  to  Stop  a  Hacking  Cough  303 

How  to  Blow  the   Nose   305 

How  to  Empty  the  Cavity  of  the  Middle  Ear 305 

How  to  Be  Fat    ' 306 

How  to  Be  Lean    306 

How  to  Sweeten  a  Cistern 316 

How  Do  You  Feel? 323 

How  One  Kind-hearted  Woman  Failed  2>72i 

Holding  the  Breath  231 

Hook-worm  Disease   217 

Human  Privilege  9 

Hunger  and  Appetite  325 

Hygiene,  Origin  of  Term  9 

Hypnotism  59.  131 

Hysteria  231 

Ice  Poultice  174 

Inanimate  Elements  Praise  the  Creator  14 

Influenza    227 

Insomnia   232 

Insect  Bites  317 

Incentives  to  Reform  326 

Itching   (See  Eczema)    252 

Laws  of  Nature    Divine    14 

Laws  of  Life  Defined  38 

Laws  of  Sunlight  and  Clothing  38 

Law  of  Breathing    45 

Law  of  Water  Drinking  48 

Law  of  Eating    50 

Law  of  Exercise    55 

Law  of  Rest  ' 56,  92,  144 

Law  of  Rest    Analyzed    93 

La  Grippe _ 227 

Little  things  '. 295 

Little  and  Often  303 

Life  and  Labor  37l) 

Life  Insurance  386 

Locomotor   Ataxia  267 

Lung   Packing 167 

Lungs,  Congestion  of  228 

Lungs.  Inflammation  of  229 

"Man,  Whence  Docs  He  Come?  - 15 

Massage 180 


418  INDEX 

PAGE 

Mental  Causes  and  Mental  Remedies  11,  91,  101 

Meat  Eating,  Objections  to  51,     52 

Mental,  Causes,  Adverse  99 

Menstruation    241 

Measles    249 

Men  of  Value  345 

Milk,  Sterilization  and  Pasteurization  of  52,  53,  316 

Milk,   Pure   from  Healthy  Cow   53 

Miraculous  Healing  79 

Mind  Cure  101 

Migraine   , 260 

Mixtures  and  Variety 278 

More  About  Variety  in  Foods  281 

Modern  Theory,  The  139 

Mouth,  The  270 

More  About  the  Law  of  Exercise  370 

Mumps  249 

Mushes  287 

Mustard  Oil,  White  276 

My  Experience 295 

Narcotics    61 

Natural  and  Spiritual  Rest  Contrasted 144 

Nature's  Calls  297 

Nasal  Douche   217 

New  Thought  116,  123,  127 

Neutral   Bath  176 

Neuralgia    204 

Neurasthenia    233 

Nightmare   214,  284 

Night  Terrors  _., 214,  284 

Objections  to  Flesh  Eating 51,     52 

Obedience,    Instinctive   Ill 

Occultism  No  Part  of  Christianity 113 

Occult   Forces  134 

Oils  for  Cooking 276 

Oil  Rubs 172,  174,  303 

Old  Sores  i 253 

Old  Age  :. 256 

On  Bathing 318 

Opium    395 

Opinions  of  Medical  Men  ^ 69 

Osteopathy  181,  314 

Patent  Medicines _. 61,     72 

Partial  and  Counterfeit  Applications  of  the  Law  of  Rest 114 

Pantheism  Reinstated  129 

Paralysis   , 234 

Pain 264 

Painful  Menstruation  241  " 

Panting  or  Vibratory  Breathing  162 


INDEX  419 

PAGE 

Peanut  Oil  ^ 276 

Personality,  A  Sense  of 95 

Perfect  Peace ; 98 

Persistence   Required 270 

Peroxide  of  Hydrogen  243,  402 

Permanganate  of  Potash  403 

Piles   199 

Pneumonia 229 

Poverty  Not  a  Complete  Excuse  321 

Pointers  270 

Precautions  for  the  Night  298 

Progress,  An  Age  of  9 

Protection  When  Reclining  302 

Proud  Flesh 244 

Principles  Set  Forth  12 

Practice    Suggested   12 

Prevention  of  Colds  260 

Physical  Remedies  for  Disease  151 

Physical    Training   307 

Psoriasis „ 251 

Purpose  of  the  Writer  10 

Pustules  252 

Quantity  of  Food  Required '. , 285 

Quackery  346 

Quick  Lime  403 

Race  Suicide  and  Sexual  Sins  334 

Rest,  An  Essential  ; 16 

Rest  Considered  .         3i 

Rest,  Law  of  56 

Rest,  Spiritual  60,  99,  112 

Rest  Cure  158 

Reactions  ; 169 

Reflex  Disturbances  258 

Regulate  the  Appetite  ; 270 

Regularity 289 

Relaxation    308 

Responsibility    315 

Reforms  and  Extremes 388 

Reforms  in  Diet 389 

Reforms  in  Dress  .'. 393 

Rheumatism  202 

Rising  Above  Trouble  141 

Rice,   Unpolished   .. 27A 

Room  Disinfection  404 

Salt  290 

Salt  Glows  1 7^ 

Salt    Rlicum  253 

Scarlet   Fever 24Q 

Self- Salvation  Left  Out  .  113 


420  INDEX 

PAGB 

Self-Denial    310 

Sense  of  Personality  95 

Sense  of  Weight  at  Stomach  304 

Shortening 276 

Skin    Foods    320 

Smoker's  Opinion,  The 65 

Smallpox  250 

Snoring   .  284 

Snuffling  Cats  and  Dogs  303 

Snuff  .  395 

Sore  Eyes  :... 255 

Soups   275 

Soap   304 

Soft   Drinks  317 

Spiritual  Rest  60,  94,  112 

Spray  Bath  172 

Spasms 230 

Sprains    — .: 244 

Stimulants  61 

Strong  Drink  62 

Stomach,  Prolapse  of 240 

St.  Vitus'  Dance -. ; 264 

Sterilizing   Bread   275 

Sterilizing  Milk,  Cream  and  Water  316 

Sterilizing  Strawberries,  Etc 316 

Study  This  Subject  34S 

Sunlight  an  Essential 16 

Sunlight  Considered 17 

Sunlight,  Law  of  38 

Substitutes  for  Tea  and  Coffee  , 294 

Suggestion 128 

Subconscious    Mind,   The ■- 130 

Subliminal  Consciousness 130 

Success  385 

Sun   Baths   .-. 156 

Sun  Cholera  Mixture,  or  Panama  Cholera  Cure  200 

Surgery — 188,  189 

Surgical  Adhesive  Strip 243 

Sugar   ^ 282 

Superstition    •. 308 

Sulphur    404 

Sweating   320 

Tabular  Views 153,  155 

Tape  Worm  .' 219 

I'emperance  Cause,  Weakness  of  64 

Tea    66,   291,  395 

Tea  and  Coffee,  Substitutes  for  294 

Testimonial,  A   (Verse)   ^ : 75,     76 

Tensing  Exercises 181 


INDEX  421 

PAGE 

"The  First  Man  Is  of  the  Earth  Earthy"  13 

The   Seven   Essentials   16 

Three  Great  Systems  of  Mind  Cure  115 

The  Real  Christian  Hope  137 

The  God    Within 138 

The  Afterword   398 

Too  Little  Known  of  Hygiene  9 

To  Break  Up  a  Cold  in  the  Head _ 227 

Tobacco    62,  39 j 

Treatment  of  Diseases  193 

Transformations   379 

Transformations  of  Energy  Into  Material  Forms  380 

Transformations  from  Vegetable  to  Animal  Forms 381 

Transformations  That  Will  Endure  384 

Tricliina   Spiralis 219 

Tuberculosis  of  the  Lungs  220 

Typhoid   Fever  24(i 

Use  of  Air,  or  Breathing  as  a  Remedy  16(1 

Uric  Acid  and  Fruits  '. 296 

Variety  and  Frequency  of  Meals 54 

Vaccination ■ 1§3 

Varicose  LHcers  253 

Variety  in  Foods,  More  About  281 

Variety  Stimulates  to   Overeating  ....1 281 

Variety,  Safe  If ' : 282 

Vegetation,   How    Produced 13 

Vermifuges  li^2 

Vibratory  Breathing  162 

Vocal  Cords,  to  Develop  301 

Water  an  Essential  16 

Water  Considered    ^^ 

Water  Drinking,  Law  of  48 

Water  Filter.  How  to  Make  (See  Cut)  49 

Water  Still,  How  to  Make 49 

Water  Sterilization  49,  316 

Water.  Amount  of  Needed  — 50 

Water  as  a  Medicine  170,  171 

Warts  Disappear  Sometimes  59 

Waist  Reform  310 

Weakness  of  Modern  Man,  The  140 

Weight   Lifting  166 

Weeping  Eczema  253 

Whooping  Cough  249 

Whole  Wheat  I'lour : n^- 

Who  Are  Safe  Guides?  3.^*' 

What  Shall  We  Call  This  System?  341 

Worrying    56 

Worrving,  An  Experience  - ^"^ 

Words  of  Empliasis    I'^l 

Wounds  ..  .  243 


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